Things are seriously unravelling for big pharma at the moment. Within days of Merck withdrawing its painkiller Vioxx, a leading Food and Drug Administration official has warned that five of the world's best-selling drugs may also have an unacceptable health risk.
Dr David Graham told a Senate hearing last week that GlaxoSmithKline's asthma drug Serevent, AstraZeneca's cholesterol fighter Crestor, Pfizer's arthritis treatment Bextra, Roche's acne treatment Accutane and Abbot Laboratories' weight loss drug Meridia could all have unacceptable risks.
Vioxx was recently pulled from the market after it was linked to an increased risk of heart attacks and strokes among patients who had taken the drug for longer than a year. It has been estimated that the drug may have killed up to 55,000 people.
Astonishingly, as Enews revealed a few broadcasts back, the FDA had approved Vioxx for use among children just days before it was removed from the market.
So it's no great surprise to hear that Dr Graham doubts that the FDA has the infrastructure to protect Americans from another Vioxx. This is undoubtedly the case when you consider the FDA's most powerful weapon it seems to exercise is the 'black box' warning, a typographical device that sends shivers down the collective spine of the pharmaceutical industry.