To: Ian@SI who wrote (16863 ) 5/19/2005 4:42:24 PM From: Clarksterh Read Replies (1) | Respond to Sadly the WSJ editorials on the drug approval process leave a lot to be desired IMO. If you look at some from, say, more than 5 years ago they promulgate drugs that eventually are shown not to work is any substantive way. Today's editorial continues in the same vein. The sad thing is that I agree with a lot of it, but then they shoot themselves in the foot. Most egregious is:One way Congress could fight back would be with a law ending the moral travesty of placebo-controlled drug trials for terminal diseases. True, Iressa helps only about 10% of patients. But those who respond to it respond massively. "I've had patients who have gone from being on oxygen to skiing at altitude," says one doctor of the drug. Genetic tests are being developed to better predict who will respond to Iressa. Yet Dr. Pazdur seems to regard the FDA's Iressa approval in 2003 as an instance of the drug industry getting away with one. Incredible.
