HOW CAN A DRUG BE DANGEROUS IF IT WAS APPROVED BY THE FDA?
The drug approval process is lengthy and complicated. The FDA reviews all data provided to it by the manufacturer of the new drug in an attempt to determine if the compound will be safe in humans. But the FDA doesn’t conduct any testing on the new drug. The agency is at the mercy of the manufacturer to disclose all information about the drug. This creates a conflict of interest between the FDA, which needs all relevant data, and the manufacturer, which wants the drug approved as quickly as possible. It is true that no drug is completely safe. This is why doctors weigh the risks of the drug against the benefit they can expect their patient to receive. But often times, risks are downplayed by drug manufacturer sales representatives in order to compete with other, similar drugs. When this happens, the number of serious reactions to the drug increases.
