FDA Announces Safety Improvements

The US Food and Drug Administration has announced a plan for improving safety reviews on new drugs. Gardiner Harris of the New York Times reports that the FDA has been working on an initiative to “improve the science of drug safety.” These changes include:

• A comprehensive assessment of the safety of drugs 18 months after introduction
• An advisory panel for reviewing announcements of safety issues
• Collaboration with the Veterans Health Administration to track real patients taking the medications