Grassley has agenda for FDA

If you found out that your doctor earned $10,000 last year from a pharmaceutical company for speaking to his colleagues about a drug he prescribed you, would you worry about taking it?

Sen. Charles Grassley (R., Iowa) doesn't want to tell you what to do, but he wants you to have that information and decide for yourself. Last month, he reintroduced the Physician Payments Sunshine Act, which would require disclosure of all such payments above $100 and establish penalties of as much as $1 million for not doing so.

He also wants to separate the Food and Drug Administration office that approves new drugs from the one that studies safety concerns once those products are on the market. Often, dangerous but less common side effects become apparent only after the drug is on the market and taken by millions of people.

Currently, FDA scientists who approve a drug also review post-marketing safety issues. Grassley thinks human nature makes it hard for them to admit to having approved an unsafe drug. Legislation he sponsored requiring separation of pre- and post-marketing responsibilities failed in 2007, but he hopes to get it passed.