23 different drugs have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration only later to be pulled from the market by the agency in the last 11 years when they have been proven unsafe. The Boston Globe, "No Haven For Dangerous Drugs," reports on this shockingly bad oversight record and on the ongoing efforts by pharmaceutical companies to obtain legal protection from any liability for their dangerous drugs based solely on their ability to obtain approval from the FDA. This legal strategy by the pharmaceutical companies will be reviewed by the United States Supreme Court in the case of Wyeth v. Levine. The argument of the drug companies is that if the FDA approves a drug they cannot be held liable or responsible if their drug later kills or severely injures an individual.
The inability of the FDA to exercise proper oversight and review of new drugs has been acknowledged even by the agency itself. In a speech in March, FDA Commissioner Dr. Andrew C. von Eschenbach admitted that the agency "may fail in its mission to protect and promote the health of every American" and that "peril exists." The commissioner merely echoed the findings of the FDA Science Board reporting, among other things, that the agency does not have the capacity to ensure the safety of the nation's food, cannot adequately regulate the development of medical products based on "new science," cannot fulfill its mission because its scientific base has eroded, its scientific workforce lacks sufficient capability and capacity and its information technology system is inadequate including internal e-mail systems prone to frequently breaking down. The report is titled "FDA Science and Mission at Risk."
