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October 08, 2004
FDA Hushes Up Concerns; Merck Takes Them to Heart
The Food and Drug Administration silenced one of its drug experts who raised safety concerns weeks before Merck & Co. yanked the blockbuster drug Vioxx due to increased risks for heart attack and strokes, the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee said Thursday.
Dr. David J. Graham, associate director for science in the FDA Drug Center's Office of Drug Safety, told Senate investigators he faced stiff resistance within the regulatory agency to his findings.
"Dr. Graham described an environment where he was 'ostracized,' 'subjected to veiled threats' and 'intimidation,"' Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said in a statement after Finance Committee investigators interviewed the researcher Thursday.
Read the whole story here.
Ain't it grand to have the government here to protect us from those evil pharmaceutical companies?
Posted by Mike Tennant at October 8, 2004 04:02 PM