WASHINGTON — Critics of the revolving door between government and industry cite the hundreds of lawmakers-turned-lobbyists as case studies in the art of cashing in on one’s years of public service.
But less is known about the revolving door between the Food and Drug Administration and the biopharmaceutical industry.
In a study published Tuesday in the journal BMJ, researchers who studied the careers of FDA medical reviewers found that more than half of the hematology-oncology assessors who reviewed drugs between 2001 and 2010 went on to work for the biopharmaceutical industry.
Patients who encounter the FDA after experiencing harmful side effects from medical devices or drugs know the revolving doors and conflicts of interest all too well. The balancing of benefits and risk – especially on the device side where FDA approval shields device manufacturers from liability – is too often of the benefits to the company vs. risks to the patient. Until Congress rewrites the rules, this will,continue.