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Date Posted:	May 10, 2006
Drug Ties Common Among FDA Committee Members Means More Bad Drugs For You
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A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) has found that conflicts of interest among U.S. FDA drug advisory committee members are common, and also that there is a statistically significant link between such conflicts and voting behavior. New Guidelines Led to Study In the wake of a threatened lawsuit in 2001, the FDA instituted new guidelines in 2002 requiring more detailed financial disclosures for committee members meeting to consider specific drugs. An examination of the resulting information showed that almost 30 percent of advisory committee members and voting consultants had some degree of conflict, and that there was at least one member or consultant with a conflict in nearly three quarters of all meetings. However, only 1 percent of members were ever recused from attending meetings. 10 Percent Greater for Every Member With a Conflict Conflicts included consulting fees, stock holdings or investments and research grants ranging from $10,000-$100,000. The study also showed that for every voting member with a conflict of any type, there was a 10 percent greater likelihood that the meeting would favor the drug in question. Public Citizen April 25, 2006 Journal of the American Medical Association April 26, 2006; 295(16): 1921-1928 Yahoo News April 25, 2006