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Lawmakers voted to give the Food & Drug Administration more power when dealing the with drug companies in the United States. These powers are considered sweeping in nature and have the ability to change the way medicine and medical research is conducted. Under these powers the FDA could force medical companies to change warning labels and to conduct further research. Senator Edward Kennedy is considered the main broker behind the new bill. According to Senator Kennedy the FDA should be protecting people from harmful drugs. However, as with the Vioxx case which caused increased risks of heart attacks the FDA is failing as a government entity. Thus reform is needed and welcomed. The bill passed 93-1 in a sweeping legislative act. Even though lawmakers were overwhelmingly happy with the changes it does not mean that many of the food and drug advocates were. Some of the organizations complained that even thought penalties for non-compliance moved from $100,000 to $250,000 it doesn’t do much to protect the public. Even though the bill does give more power to the FDA one has to wonder if it helps the average American pay for his/her prescriptions. Medical coverage is increasingly becoming difficult to obtain through your employer. Co-pays are moving higher, costs of medication are moving higher, and the quality of coverage is moving lower. Forcing more legislation on the drug manufacturers isn’t likely going to reduce costs. Imagine you are a drug manufacturer like Pfizer and the government forced you to conduct additional testing beyond what is required to get your product to the market. You may consider spending additional corporate monies on research, development and testing before the drug is even offered. This increased cost is passed directly to the consumers who must now pay. Let us compare the cost versus the benefit. If the new protections save 10 lives we may say this is wonderful. However, if this new protection costs 100 lives because they can no longer afford the new cost of the drug then this would be very bad. In today’s economy it is much more likely that people cannot afford medication then they become ill from the side effects of medication. As grand mothers count their pennies and skimp on groceries to pay for medication the increased costs on drug companies due to government legislation is of major concern. As a nation we need to balance the need for protection versus the need for the medication. “Pills & Bill” is a necessary competent of a society. If you can’t pay the bills they won’t give you the pills. The great good of society should always be considered before passing new legislation. Murad Ali, a two-time published author, writes articles and offers advertisement space for businesses. Visit http://www.thenewbusinessworld.blogspot.com
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Drugs, medication, bills, legislation, FDA,
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