In his recent opinion piece published in the New York Post, ACSH friend and former trustee (and former FDA official) Dr. Henry Miller questions the FDA s decision to grant permission for expanded access to experimental Ebola drugs, while products desperately needed to treat deadly diseases in the United States are still awaiting approval. Dr. Miller references Bexsero, a vaccine for meningitis B, and pirfenidone, a drug meant to treat idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) both drugs were approved by the European Union and Canada, yet the FDA still has not given the OK in the US. The delays of these drugs have had deadly consequences MenB outbreaks continue to occur on college campuses, and an estimated 40,000 people die each year from IPF.
The FDA bases priorities on factors other than data and the nation s medical needs. Africa s Ebola outbreak is front-page news, so the FDA grants expanded access for an Ebola drug, Dr. Miller explains.
Read his entire article from the New York Post here.
