The FDA's Conflict Of Interest Problem

By all rights, the storm surrounding the arthritis drugs Celebrex, Bextra and Vioxx should start to dissipate now that a panel of 32 doctors voted that all three drugs have at least some place on the market. But what if some of these doctors convened by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are seen as having material conflicts of interest that might have swayed their votes? Normally, before an FDA advisory committee meets, a list of potential conflicts of interest is read aloud. Some experts with material conflicts, such as having received fees for lectures from drug companies or owning stock in them, are allowed to sit on the panel. But this occurs only when the doctor's expertise is considered irreplaceable to the FDA. In at least one case, a panelist owning tens of thousands of dollars in one drug firm's stock was allowed to give advice about a competitor.