But he did end up writing about it. The result, this book, Bitter Pills, a critical look at the nation's drug industry. He came away disillusioned. Everybody in this system is to blame. The Food and Drug Administration's Dr. Mac Lumpkin says, while Diane's situation is tragic, it doesn't mean the FDA is letting bad drugs slip into the system.
All drugs carry risks.
You know, the ones that don't have any risks probably don't have any benefits either. Typically, a drug goes through years of research including testing on three to four thousand people, and is then submitted to the FDA for possible approval. Historically, the FDA has been criticized for taking too long to rule on new drugs. But times have changed. With additional resources allocated by Congress a few years back, the FDA has now doubled the number of new drugs it approves each year.