Survey Shows Lack Of Confidence At FDA

About two-thirds of Food and Drug Administration (news - web sites) scientists are less than fully confident in the agency's monitoring of the safety of prescription drugs now being sold, according to an FDA (news - web sites) internal survey. Also, more than one-third of those scientists have some doubts about the process for approving new drugs, the survey found. The survey was conducted by the Health and Human Services (news - web sites)' Office of Inspector General. Complete results were released to the public only after an advocacy group filed a Freedom of Information Act request. The release comes in the wake of safety concerns forcing removal from the market of Vioxx, an arthritis drug, and congressional testimony by an FDA scientist, Dr. David Graham, that the agency mishandled safety concerns about five other drugs.