The Vioxx Fallout On the Hill

摘要

Lever Since Newt Gingrich & CO.seized control of Congress in 1994,GOP leaders have been putting the spurs to the Food & Drug Administration.The once-glacial agency has been pressured by lawmakers to approve new drugs faster and faster.Now,however,the cry of "full speed ahead" is being drowned out by revelations that popular FDA-approved painkillers like Merck's Vioxx may cause heart attacks and strokes,and by charges by Dr.David J.Graham,one of the agency's own drug safety officials,that the "FDA is incapable of protecting America against another Vioxx." Lawmakers are talking about strengthening drug safety-and Big Phar-ma is trying to preserve quick approvals without losing more public confidence.