Conflicts of Interest in the Approval Process
Another problem that has recently come to light in the FDA approval process is conflict of interest on the part of some members of the agency's 18 drug advisory committees. These committees include about 300 members, and are influential in recommending whether drugs should be approved, whether they should remain on the market, how drug studies should be designed, and what warning labels should say. The decisions of these committees have enormous financial implications for drug makers.
A report by USA Today indicated that roughly half the experts on these panels had a direct financial interest in the drug or topic they were asked to evaluate. The conflicts of interest included stock ownership, consulting fees, and research grants from the companies whose products they were evaluating. In some cases, committee members had helped to develop the drugs they were evaluating. Although federal law tries to restrict the use of experts with conflicts of interest, USA Today reported that FDA had waived the rule more than 800 times between 1998 and 2000. FDA does not reveal the magnitude of any financial interest or the drug companies involved.[27]
Nonetheless, USA Today reported that in considering 159 Advisory Committee meetings from 1998 through the first half of 2000, at least one member had a financial conflict of interest 92% of the time. Half or more of the members had conflicts at more than half the meetings. At 102 meetings that dealt specifically with drug approval, 33% of committee members had conflicts.[27] The Los Angeles Times reported that such conflicts were present at committee reviews of some recently withdrawn drugs.[18]
The FDA official responsible for waiving the conflict-of-interest rules pointed out that the same experts who consult with industry are often the best for consulting with the FDA, because of their knowledge of certain drugs and diseases. But according to a summary of the USA Today survey reported in the electronic American Health Line, "even consumer and patient representatives on the committees often receive drug company money."[28] In 2001, Congressional staff from the House Government Reform Committee began examining the FDA advisory committees, to determine whether conflicts of interest were affecting the approval process.[29]
J Am Board Fam Med. 2004;17(2) © 2004 American Board of Family Medicine
The views and conclusions expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of or imply endorsement from the Food and Drug Administration, the US government, or the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
Cite this: Gaps, Tensions, and Conflicts in the FDA Approval Process: Implications for Clinical Practice - Medscape - Mar 01, 2004.
