3 ms·

While I do worry about the state of the FDA and prescription drugs in the US, things like this make me feel glad that drug companies have a well regulated proce

by epmatsw 11y ago

While I do worry about the state of the FDA and prescription drugs in the US, things like this make me feel glad that drug companies have a well regulated process to catch issues like this before they can become more widespread.

MBCook 11y ago
It's all the supplements and other homeopathic exemption stuff that worries me. Not only do they not have to prove they're effect (at all, let alone more effective than the standard treatment), but they've had serious safety issues in the past. Ephedra is a classic example. Plus there are so many times people do tests that find supplements don't contain what they claim.
- SixSigma 11y ago
  Or contain more than they should. Reading the FDA recall database is quite illuminating http://www.fda.gov/Drugs/DrugSafety/DrugRecalls/default.htm http://www.fda.gov/Drugs/DrugSafety/DrugRecalls/default.htm The food one is also an eye opener, 8 so far in 2016 http://www.fda.gov/Food/RecallsOutbreaksEmergencies/Recalls/default.htm http://www.fda.gov/Food/RecallsOutbreaksEmergencies/Recalls/... Last year I scraped the whole database and read every one to analyse the reasons for a Uni project. I'm surprised anyone is still alive!
patrickaljord 11y ago
> things like this make me feel glad that drug companies have a well regulated process to catch issues like this before they can become more widespread. This is France we're talking about here, we are one of the most regulated country on the planet, this includes FDA like institutions. Still, this could happen anywhere. Also, as has been pointed elsewhere, too much regulation can make people die that could have benefited from the a cure, except we don't notice these death.
- epmatsw 11y ago
  Right, it seems like this is a tragic success of the process. Without a body like the FDA or France's equivalent enforcing rigorous trials, this would not be 6 people who opted in, this would be hundreds or thousands of sick people who were harmed. But yeah, striking the balance between progress and safety is tough. It's just sort of comforting to see a tragedy minimized by the controls we've put in place.

by epmatsw 11y ago

MBCook 11y ago

It's all the supplements and other homeopathic exemption stuff that worries me. Not only do they not have to prove they're effect (at all, let alone more effective than the standard treatment), but they've had serious safety issues in the past. Ephedra is a classic example. Plus there are so many times people do tests that find supplements don't contain what they claim.

SixSigma 11y ago
Or contain more than they should. Reading the FDA recall database is quite illuminating http://www.fda.gov/Drugs/DrugSafety/DrugRecalls/default.htm http://www.fda.gov/Drugs/DrugSafety/DrugRecalls/default.htm The food one is also an eye opener, 8 so far in 2016 http://www.fda.gov/Food/RecallsOutbreaksEmergencies/Recalls/default.htm http://www.fda.gov/Food/RecallsOutbreaksEmergencies/Recalls/... Last year I scraped the whole database and read every one to analyse the reasons for a Uni project. I'm surprised anyone is still alive!

patrickaljord 11y ago

> things like this make me feel glad that drug companies have a well regulated process to catch issues like this before they can become more widespread. This is France we're talking about here, we are one of the most regulated country on the planet, this includes FDA like institutions. Still, this could happen anywhere. Also, as has been pointed elsewhere, too much regulation can make people die that could have benefited from the a cure, except we don't notice these death.

epmatsw 11y ago
Right, it seems like this is a tragic success of the process. Without a body like the FDA or France's equivalent enforcing rigorous trials, this would not be 6 people who opted in, this would be hundreds or thousands of sick people who were harmed. But yeah, striking the balance between progress and safety is tough. It's just sort of comforting to see a tragedy minimized by the controls we've put in place.