Just Say No to Drug Safety Board

"The new drug safety board established by the Food and Drug Administration to restore confidence in the nation's drug supply will actually set back efforts to improve the safety of the medications Americans take and will not make it any easier to take dangerous drugs off the market," the Washington Post reports. FDA safety officer David Graham criticized the Drug Safety Oversight Board (DSB) for being "severely biased in favor of industry." He told the Post, "Ironically, drug safety in the U.S. is worse off today than it was in November." Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) sent a letter to the FDA critical of the agency's decision that the DSB will have private deliberations, requesting improved transparency and accountability and for the FDA to "explain in detail how it will ensure that the DSB is truly independent and objective."