Scientist
Fast access to new medicines shouldn’t mean endangering our health
Agencies like the US Food and Drug Administration speed the approval of some drugs to address urgent needs, but there are signs that the balance between safety and speed isn’t quite right Health | Leader 27 November 2019 Tek Image/Science Photo Library/Alamy Stock PhotoHIGH ideals have a way of seeming like high hurdles when time…
Agencies like the US Food and Drug Administration speed the approval of some drugs to address urgent needs, but there are signs that the balance between safety and speed isn’t quite right
Health
| Leader
27 November 2019
Tek Image/Science Photo Library/Alamy Stock Photo
HIGH ideals have a way of seeming like high hurdles when time is running out. If someone you love has been told they have just months to live, and there is a drug that might offer them even a few months more, it suddenly matters less that the drug isn’t cost-effective, or that it was approved on the basis of a small trial and its risks and benefits remain unclear. What matters is that it might buy precious time right now.
Such dilemmas are why the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and similar …
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