Editorial: Allowing undue influence?

Friday, Oct. 19, 2007 | 8:23 a.m.

Last month Congress approved the creation of a drug research foundation that will largely be funded by the very companies that the Food and Drug Administration regulates.

The FDA is to appoint a board of directors for the Reagan-Udall Foundation by the end of the month. FDA commissioners and staff members will not hold any voting seats on the 14-member board, but the panel will include four representatives from the pharmaceutical industry, along with consumer advocates, doctors and members from academic backgrounds, the Associated Press reports.

The FDA can recommend certain research projects, but the board has the final decision on which projects will receive funding.

Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., co-sponsor of the legislation that created the foundation, told the AP the idea was to create a more streamlined and independent process for researching drugs and medical devices. Kennedy says the law includes "effective safeguards" to make certain that decisions are made without undue influence of either the FDA or drug companies.

The research techniques developed at the center will be available to the entire research community, Kennedy added, which should help develop drugs faster and, as a result, at a lower cost. Those savings could be passed on to patients.

But given the FDA's recent conflicts over drug safety and suggestions that the agency has become too easily influenced by - and too chummy with - the industry it regulates, consumer advocates say this new relationship just doesn't look right. And they aren't so sure the money that drug companies save on research and development will be passed to consumers. They think the savings simply will increase the companies' profit margins.

Rachel Behrman, a senior FDA official, told the AP the foundation will open vast new research opportunities and that it "has to do with being smarter. That's what this initiative is about."

Certainly, we want the FDA to make wise decisions. Nonetheless, we don't want "smarter" to become the agency's euphemism for cutting corners to save the drug industry money and time. Although the drug approval process has been slow in some cases, the FDA's ultimate goal should be to ensure that new drugs are thoroughly researched and safe for consumers - no matter how much it costs or how long it takes.