The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will remove representatives of pharmaceutical companies from its advisory committees to reduce industry influence over their decisions.
In a statement on Thursday, the FDA’s new commissioner, Dr Marty Makary, said the move would ensure the FDA makes the right decisions on drug regulation in the future, after being “influenced unduly” by industry in the past.
“Industry employees are welcome to attend FDA advisory committee meetings, along with the rest of the American public, but having industry employees serve as official members of FDA advisory committee members represents a cozy relationship that is concerning to many Americans,” Makary wrote.
“In fact, the FDA has a history of being influenced unduly by corporate interests.”
In total, the FDA has 32 advisory committees, on areas ranging from vaccines to medical devices. Although members are primarily federal employees and non-industry experts, industry representatives do sit on these panels.
The Vaccine and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee, for example, had representatives from Pfizer officer and Dynavax at its most recent meeting.
These industry representatives do not cast votes, but they do provide information that could sway voting.
In his statement, Commissioner Makary said trust needs to be restored in healthcare.
“Public trust in the healthcare-industrial complex is at an all-time low. We need to restore impeccable integrity to the process and avoid potential conflicts of interest.”
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