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Wednesday, September 12, 2007

For Congress, an Opportunity to Limit Conflicts of Interest at FDA

Yesterday, Reg•Watch blogged about Congress's FDA reform bill which has passed the House and the Senate but is now stuck in a conference committee charged with reconciling the two versions.

One important provision contained in the House bill, but not in the Senate version, would reduce conflicts of interest on FDA advisory panels. Those panels make important recommendations about the safety of prescription drugs, among other things. However, FDA is often criticized for letting individuals with ties to the pharmaceutical industry serve on the panels. The provision in the House bill would allow only one conflicted member serve on each panel.

Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) offered a similar provision as an amendment to the Senate version. Unfortunately, it was not added to the bill because the vote on the amendment was a 47-47 tie.

Two of the senators who voted against Durbin's amendment, Ted Kennedy (D-MA) and Chris Dodd (D-CT), are now serving on the conference committee and will soon work with House members to decide whether the bill Congress sends to the president will contain the conflict-of-interest provision or not.

Now, the heat is on Kennedy and Dodd to make the right call and support the provision. According to the Center for Science and the Public Interest (CSPI):

nine prominent physicians, including two former editors of the New England Journal of Medicine, are calling on Senators Edward M. Kennedy and Christopher J. Dodd to limit the number of industry-connected scientists who may serve on Food and Drug Administration advisory panels.

The letter is available on CSPI's website. Stay tuned to Reg•Watch for updates on this provision and the overall FDA reform bill.