W's Defanged FDA continues to do big pharm's bidding

TNR points out a number of areas where the FDA has failed consumers over the last few years:

"First Eliot Spitzer got $2.5 million out of GlaxoSmithKline after alleging that the company hid tests that linked Paxil to suicide in young users. Then there was the Vioxx debacle. Last week, it turned out that--oops--Viagra may cause blindness. And now, the Los Angeles Times reveals that the agency only catches about 10 percent of serious drug reactions because it relies on the voluntary reporting of a small number of testers."


Well, that's to be expected when the corporatists take over, right? But surely good ol' Republican fiscal conservatism will save the day, right? Of course not, you sap. The post goes on to point out that the FDA is remaing silent on a cost-effective measure to improve the reporting of drug interactions and side effects:

"Because taxpayers will already be paying for the Medicare information and the computers that would crunch the data, there would be very little cost associated with setting up and operating the system."

The pharmaceutical companies-- more profitable than ever-- are very much against it. After all, it could take more time to get great products like Vioxx and suicide-promoting SSRI's on the market.