The FDA is apparently considering loosening the conflict-of-interest rules that apply to members of FDA advisory committee members. These rules have set limits on the financial arrangements that members can have with companies in the health care industry.
The Project on Government Oversight wrote about the issue last week.
If the perceived problem is that the FDA can’t find enough non-conflicted experts to serve on the committee, we wonder if they’re looking hard enough.
Here’s a letter sent to the FDA commissioner today by Shannon Brownlee, Jeanne Lenzer and me:
Here is the letter sent by the Project on Government Oversight to the FDA.
And here is Shannon Brownlee’s blog post on the topic, “Is There An Independent, Unbiased Expert in the House?”
Opinions on other issues in news, journals, PR, advertising, marketing
Puleeeeease... this 'game changer' weight loss drug causes more nausea and vomiting than a placebo. Some game, some change. My friend Gary would spank you for using the eighth word medical reporters should never, ever use. @garyschwitzer @thackerpd
https://www.healthnewsreview.org/toolkit/just-journalists-writing-tips-case-studies/7-words-and-more-you-shouldnt-use-in-medical-news/ https://twitter.com/OttawaCitizen/status/1361426796126830597
A scary @statnews Op-Ed warns that govt attempts to rein in Pharma may cut off access to "life-changing" drugs.
It takes @garyschwitzer to let us know: the author spent 10 years as Pfizer's public-policy chief. https://twitter.com/garyschwitzer/status/1360325022578053123
.@TranspariMED criticizes STAT op-ed for not disclosing pharma funding of author’s institute - similar to criticism we’ve made of STAT op-eds in the past. @transparify @ThinkTankWatch @icer_review https://www.healthnewsreview.org/2021/02/transparency-watchdog-criticizes-stats-non-disclosure-on-pro-pharma-op-ed/
Comments
Please note, comments are no longer published through this website. All previously made comments are still archived and available for viewing through select posts.
Barbara Duck
August 3, 2011 at 12:28 pmThis is tough topic and recently I actually gave the FDA a break on the device side with not being able to find enough engineers and companies all across the US have that problem as well. Intel had said they can’t find enough and need to find engineers over seas.
I don’t know if we truly have enough “experts” any more to use the name but we certain have a lot of smart people:) I think technology bites at the word expert quite often with the rapid pace we live in today.
The post I made a few weeks ago included a video from Robert Scoble and it’s probably one of his best as he gets personal about the talent search in this country. The pharma side may roll over into this a bit more too as so many are created with computers for a long way of the research before a wet lab is ever created too.
http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/2011/07/fda-and-medical-devices-who-doesnt-get.html
Anyway on the device side of the FDA experts I gave them a bit of a break here and it’s a tough subject.
Our Comments Policy
But before leaving a comment, please review these notes about our policy.
You are responsible for any comments you leave on this site.
This site is primarily a forum for discussion about the quality (or lack thereof) in journalism or other media messages (advertising, marketing, public relations, medical journals, etc.) It is not intended to be a forum for definitive discussions about medicine or science.
We will delete comments that include personal attacks, unfounded allegations, unverified claims, product pitches, profanity or any from anyone who does not list a full name and a functioning email address. We will also end any thread of repetitive comments. We don”t give medical advice so we won”t respond to questions asking for it.
We don”t have sufficient staffing to contact each commenter who left such a message. If you have a question about why your comment was edited or removed, you can email us at feedback@healthnewsreview.org.
There has been a recent burst of attention to troubles with many comments left on science and science news/communication websites. Read “Online science comments: trolls, trash and treasure.”
The authors of the Retraction Watch comments policy urge commenters:
We”re also concerned about anonymous comments. We ask that all commenters leave their full name and provide an actual email address in case we feel we need to contact them. We may delete any comment left by someone who does not leave their name and a legitimate email address.
And, as noted, product pitches of any sort – pushing treatments, tests, products, procedures, physicians, medical centers, books, websites – are likely to be deleted. We don”t accept advertising on this site and are not going to give it away free.
The ability to leave comments expires after a certain period of time. So you may find that you’re unable to leave a comment on an article that is more than a few months old.
You might also like