Which? welcomes drug industry report, UK

Main Category: Pharma Industry / Biotech Industry
Article Date: 05 Apr 2005 - 11:00 PDT

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Which? welcomes the Health Select Committee's report into the influence of the pharmaceutical industry and in particular the recognition of the multiple failings of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).

Dr Ike Iheanacho, editor of Drug and Therapeutics Bulletin (DTB), said:

"Which? and DTB broadly welcome today's report, in particular the highlighting of the need for the greater transparency of the Department of Health and the need for the body to proactively protect the interests of the public, rather than the business interests of the pharmaceutical industry.

"The report's recommendation that the responsibility for the regulation of the pharmaceutical industry should fall to the Department of Trade and Industry, rather than the MHRA, makes sense.

"This would mean that the current conflict of interest with the MHRA trying to straddle both the interests of the public and the industry, would no longer be a problem as the MHRA would be able to focus on protecting the public interest.

"However, the absence of any recommendations on reclassification is an important and obvious omission. This is particularly worrying in the light of evidence produced by DTB this week on the MHRA's failure to accurately report the consultation which preceded the statin, Zocor becoming available over-the-counter (OTC).

"Added to this, the fact that the reclassification of Zocor was made despite a lack of any long-term studies on its safety and efficacy on the target group - those at moderate risk of having a heart attack - makes the need for closer scrutiny of the OTC process imperative.

"If the Government is truly concerned with public health it must move away from a blind desire to simply reclassify drugs and ensure that only those proven to be safe and effective, for the target group, are made available OTC."

http://www.which.co.uk

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