Unsafe Drugs: FDA to Track Drugs More Closely

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration plans to monitor side effects of medications after they are put on the market more closely. Criticism of the FDA's regulation of the drug industry has mounted since Merck & Co. withdrew its painkiller Vioxx after Vioxx was linked to increased risk of heart attacks and strokes.

FDA to Track Drugs More Closely

The FDA plans to adopt more than 30 safety measures, some of which were announced before and don't require additional funding. In January, the FDA recommended to lawmakers that they increase fees paid by drug makers for speedy reviews of new treatments as a way to pay for other safety measures. The FDA plans to review an unspecified number of drugs after about 18 months. "They've outlined a lot of first steps that go in the right direction," said R. Alta Charo, a professor of law and bioethics at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. "There's a lot of places where there's some daylight between their response and our recommendations." Charo was a part of the committee that recommended that the FDA overhaul their review process.