Drug Safety: A Side-by-Side Comparison of Bills in the 110th Congress
Released: 2007-03-13T00:00:00

Background

Members of Congress and the public are increasingly concerned about the ability of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to ensure that the drugs sold in the United States are safe and effective. Legislators, industry, the public, and FDA scientists have raised questions about FDA's collection and release of safety data, and whether the agency has the authority and resources to ensure adequate research over the marketing life of the pharmaceutical products it regulates.

In 2004, the regulatory, medical, and industry debate became very public with reports of cardiovascular hazards posed by the pain medicine Vioxx (one of several COX-2 nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs then on the market), and of children facing increased risk of suicidal thoughts and actions when taking certain antidepressants (such as the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors Paxil and Zoloft). Not only was Congress asking whether the manufacturers knew of these risks while continuing to market the drug, but also whether FDA should have known of the risks and done more to protect the public.

At the height of public and Congressional attention, FDA asked the Institute of Medicine (IOM) to "conduct an independent assessment of the current system for evaluating and ensuring drug safety postmarketing and make recommendations to improve risk assessment, surveillance, and the safe use of drugs." IOM released its report in September 2006. FDA issued its response in January 2007 and noted relevant activities the agency has begun and others it has planned. Among the planned activities are those in its proposal for a reauthorization of the prescription drug user fee program (PDUFA IV).

In the meantime, several Members of Congress have introduced bills to address drug safety and FDA's role in protecting the public's health.

Report Highlights

This report provides a side-by-side comparison of:

Institute of Medicine: recommendations in its September 2006 report, The Future of Drug Safety: Promoting and Protecting the Health of the Public ; Food and Drug Administration: announced actions and plans to address problems identified in the IOM report; S. 468 / H.R. 788 (the Food and Drug Administration Safety Act of 2007), introduced on January 31, 2007, by Senators Grassley, Dodd, Mikulski, and Bingaman, and Representatives Tierney and Ramstad; S. 484 (the Enhancing Drug Safety and Innovation Act of 2007), introduced on February 1, 2007, by Senators Enzi and Kennedy; and H.R. 1165 (the Swift Approval, Full Evaluation (SAFE) Drug Act), introduced on February 16, 2007, by Representative Markey.

The bills and the IOM report address many of the same issues, often with similar approaches though at times with major differences. The IOM report addressed only drugs, not biological products (e.g., vaccines), in keeping with the charge FDA gave it. FDA's response to the IOM recommendations, therefore, relates to drugs, but also states that the approach to drug safety is relevant to all medical products. All the bills would amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (regarding the regulation of drugs); S. 484 would also amend the Public Health Service Act (regarding the regulation of biologics). Highlighted below are a few of the more significant items regarding drug safety.

FDA organization

S. 468 / H.R. 788 would remove the post-approval drug safety activities from FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER) and create a new Center for Postmarket Evaluation and Research for Drugs and Biologics (the Center). The IOM report does not suggest that approach to strengthen FDA's postmarket activities, nor do the other pending bills.

FDA authority to require action and to enforce compliance

The bills and the IOM recommendations aim to strengthen FDA's ability to make sure drug manufacturers (application sponsors) appropriately design and conduct postmarket studies and disclose the results to the public. S. 468 / H.R. 788 lays out requirements that the new Center for Postmarket Evaluation and Research for Drugs and Biologics would administer; S. 484 would achieve this with a process it calls a Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS); and H.R. 1165 would allow the Secretary to require certain studies. The IOM recommended and all the bills would allow the Secretary to penalize (through civil fines, injunctions, or withdrawal of marketing approval or licensure) sponsors who do not conduct required studies or complete them on time, or who fail to report study results.

Comparative-effectiveness studies

The IOM report and the bills address the need for FDA authority to require pre- and postmarket studies. S. 468 alone would give FDA the authority to require that those studies compare a drug's safety and effectiveness with that of other drugs.

FDA funding

All three bills would require a variety of drug safety activities. They differ in how to fund them. S. 468 / H.R. 788 would authorize appropriations to carry out the bill's provisions; S. 484 would rely on user fees, expanding FDA's existing authority to use such fees; and H.R. 1165 does not address funding. The IOM committee not only recommended that Congress provide "substantially increased resources" to FDA, but noted that all its other recommendations could not be implemented without those resources.

Table 1 addresses the range of FDA drug safety activities that the IOM recommended, along with FDA's response, and activities that the bills would authorize or require. The table structure follows the 25 IOM recommendations within the five categories of organizational culture, science and expertise, regulation, communication, and resources.