Institutional Corruption of Pharmaceuticals and the Myth of Safe and Effective Drugs.Donald W. Light,Joel Lexchin &Jonathan J. Darrow -2013 -Journal of Law, Medicine and Ethics 41 (3):590-600.detailsInstitutional corruption is a normative concept of growing importance that embodies the systemic dependencies and informal practices that distort an institution’s societal mission. An extensive range of studies and lawsuits already documents strategies by which pharmaceutical companies hide, ignore, or misrepresent evidence about new drugs; distort the medical literature; and misrepresent products to prescribing physicians. We focus on the consequences for patients: millions of adverse reactions. After defining institutional corruption, we focus on evidence that it lies behind the epidemic of (...) harms and the paucity of benefits. (shrink)
Securing the Trustworthiness of the FDA to Build Public Trust in Vaccines.Leah Z. Rand,Daniel P. Carpenter,Aaron S. Kesselheim,Anushka Bhaskar,Jonathan J. Darrow &William B. Feldman -2023 -Hastings Center Report 53 (S2):60-68.detailsThe Covid‐19 pandemic highlighted the need to examine public trust in the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) vaccine approval process and the role of political influence in the FDA's decisions. Ensuring that the FDA is itself trustworthy is important for justifying public trust in its actions, like vaccine approvals, thereby promoting public health. We propose five conditions of trustworthiness that the FDA should meet when it reviews vaccines, even during emergencies: consistency with rules, proper expert or political decision‐makers, proper (...) decision‐making and noninterference, connection to public preference, and transparency of both reasons and procedures. The five conditions provide a road map of procedural and substantive requirements, which the FDA has variably implemented, focused on ensuring appropriate influence of political interests. While being a trustworthy agency cannot guarantee the public's trust, implementing these conditions builds a groundwork for public trust. (shrink)
Leah Z. Rand, Daniel P. Carpenter, Aaron S. Kesselheim, Anushka Bhaskar, Jonathan J. Darrow, and William B. Feldman Reply. [REVIEW]Leah Z. Rand,Daniel P. Carpenter,Aaron S. Kesselheim,Anushka Bhaskar,Jonathan J. Darrow &William B. Feldman -2024 -Hastings Center Report 54 (2):44-45.detailsThe authors respond to a letter by Mitchell Berger in the March‐April 2024 issue of the Hastings Center Report concerning their essay “Securing the Trustworthiness of the FDA to Build Public Trust in Vaccines.”.