Center for Science in the Public Interest: FDA Reform Bill Passes House & Senate


	Home \| About Us \| Donate \| Signup \| Archives \| Search
Home > Progressive Community > NewsWire > For Immediate Release

Printer Friendly Version

E-Mail This Article

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE September 21, 2007 9:00 AM	CONTACT: Center for Science in the Public Interest ph: 202-332-9110 fax: 202-265-4954

FDA Reform Bill Passes House & Senate Statement of CSPI Integrity in Science Director Merrill Goozner

September 21 - The FDA reform bill that passed the House on Wednesday and the Senate last night represents a step forward in protecting scientific integrity at the Food and Drug Administration. However, given the magnitude of the problems in drug and food safety that have come to light in recent years, the bill falls far short of spurring the dramatic changes that the public needs and deserves. The bill caps— at the current level— the number of waivers that the agency can grant to scientists and physicians who have conflicts of interest and who are appointed to advisory panels. The bill gradually reduces that number over the next five years. That mild limitation doesn’t go far enough. The FDA certainly could find scientists without ties to industry if it truly wanted to, and we will continue to push for ending a practice that gives drug and food companies undue and unseemly influence over the regulatory process at the FDA. We congratulate the Congress for including other provisions in the bill that will enhance the integrity of science at the agency. One measure is a requirement that all clinical trials and their results get posted in a publicly available web-based database managed by the National Institutes of Health. And we are glad that scientists at the FDA will gain greater protections to speak out and publish. ###

Printer Friendly Version

E-Mail This Article

Common Dreams NewsCenter is a non-profit news service
providing breaking news and views for the Progressive Community.

The press release posted here has been provided to Common Dreams NewsWire by one of the many progressive organizations who make up America's Progressive Community. If you wish to comment on this press release or would like more information, please contact the organization directly.
*all times Eastern US (GMT-5:00)

Making News?
Read our Guidelines for Submitting News Releases

CommonDreams.org is an Internet-based progressive news and grassroots activism organization, founded in 1997.
We are a nonprofit, progressive, independent and nonpartisan organization.

To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good.