U.S. Consumers Have Confidence in Safety of Prescription Drugs, FDA, Poll Finds

An Associated Press/Ipsos poll, taken after Pfizer last week announced that the pain medication Celebrex could increase patient risk for heart attack and stroke, found that most U.S. consumers have confidence in the overall safety of prescription drugs sold in the United States and the ability of FDA to ensure safety, the AP/Las Vegas Sun reports.

According to the poll, which surveyed 1,002 consumers between Dec. 17 and Dec. 19, about 80% of respondents said that they have confidence in the safety of prescription drugs, and about the same percentage said that they have confidence in the ability of FDA. About 33% of respondents said that they were "very confident" about the safety of prescription drugs, and about 50% said that they were "somewhat confident," the poll found. About 25% of respondents said they were "very confident" in the ability of FDA, and about 50% said that they were "somewhat confident," according to the poll.

Researchers conducted the poll before FDA on Monday announced that NIH had ended a study of naproxen, sold over the counter by Bayer as Aleve, because preliminary results indicated that the medication could increase patient risk for heart attack and stroke. The AP/Ipsos poll has a margin of error of plus or minus three percentage points.

Critics of FDA have said that the "agency approves drugs too quickly, doesn't follow up effectively on possible health effects and is too close to drug companies," the AP/Sun reports. However, White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card on Sunday said that FDA does "a spectacular job" (Lester, AP/Las Vegas Sun, 12/21).

Additional Coverage

Several newspapers have published features related to recent prescription drug safety issues. Headlines appear below.

AP/Boston Globe: "Drug Industry Weathers Horrid Year" (Agovino, AP/Boston Globe, 12/21).
CQ Today: "Grassley Plays Up Role as Government Watchdog, Focuses on FDA" (Carey, CQ Today, 12/21).
New York Times: "Good Pill, Bad Pill: Science Makes it Hard To Decipher" (Kolata, New York Times, 12/22).
Los Angeles Times: "The National Institutes of Health: Public Servant or Private Marketer?" (Willman [1], Los Angeles Times, 12/22).
Los Angeles Times: "$508,050 From Pfizer, but No 'Outside Positions To Note'" (Willman [2], Los Angeles Times, 12/22).
USA Today: "Drug Warnings Highlight Lack of Safety Data" (Rubin [1], USA Today, 12/22).
Wall Street Journal: "Rethinking Over-the-Counter Drugs" (Hensley, Wall Street Journal, 12/22).
Washington Post: "Safety Issue May Change Pill Culture" (Rosenwald, Washington Post, 12/22).

Patient Concerns

Several newspapers have published features on patient concerns related to recent prescription drug safety issues. Headlines appear below.

Arizona Daily Star: "Aleve Users: Talk to Doc, Don't Panic: Experts Need More Data on Any Heart Risk" (Swedlund, Arizona Daily Star, 12/22).
Atlanta Journal-Constitution: "Doctors Caution Aleve Users Not to Overreact" (Anderson, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 12/22).
Baltimore Sun: "For Patients, Recent News is Prescription for Confusion: Need for Relief Persists Amid Painkiller Warnings" (Bor/Kohn, Baltimore Sun, 12/22).
Boston Globe: "Doctors Warn of Overreaction to Naproxen Findings" (Dembner/Smith, Boston Globe, 12/22).
Long Island Newsday: "Weighing Risks, Benefits: Some Experts Doubt Tie Between Drugs and Heart Disease, but Others See Signs of a Bigger Health Risk" (Rabin/Kerr, Long Island Newsday, 12/22).
Los Angeles Times: "Patients, Doctors Agonize Over Risks of Painkillers" (Maugh/Mestel, Los Angeles Times, 12/22).
St. Petersburg Times: "Medication Worries Force Difficult Calls: Patients Taking Popular Drugs Such as Vioxx and Celebrex Wonder What Painkillers Are Safe" (Greene, St. Petersburg Times, 12/22).
San Francisco Chronicle: "News About Side Effects Puts Doctors in a Pickle: What Do They Tell Their Worried, Confused Patients?" (Torassa, San Francisco Chronicle, 12/22).
USA Today: "Should You Stop Taking Aleve?: Experts Have Some Answers for Worried Consumers" (Rubin [2], USA Today, 12/22).

Rx Drug Ad Concerns

Several newspapers have published features on concerns about prescription drug advertisements because of recent safety issues. Headlines appear below.

Long Island Newsday: "Call for Controls on Drug Advertising" (Phan, Long Island Newsday).
San Francisco Chronicle: "Ads in the Spotlight, Drugs Under a Cloud" (Russell, San Francisco Chronicle, 12/22).
Wall Street Journal: "Celebrex Moratorium Threatens To Chill Some Drug Marketing" (Steinberg, Wall Street Journal, 12/21).

Broadcast Coverage

Several broadcast programs have aired reports on the AP/Ipsos poll and recent prescription drug safety issues. Summaries appear below.

ABCNews' "World News Tonight": The segment includes comments from Dr. Garret FitzGerald of the University of Pennsylvania; Dr. William O'Neill of Beaumont Hospital; and NIH Director Elias Zerhouni (McKenzie, "World News Tonight," ABCNews, 12/21).
CBS' "Evening News": The segment includes comments from Dr. Theodore Fields, who works at a surgical hospital; Valentin Fuster, former president of the American Heart Association who currently works at Mt. Sinai School of Medicine; and Zerhouni (Kaledin, "Evening News," CBS, 12/21). The complete segment is available online in RealPlayer.
CNN's "Paula Zahn Now": The segment includes comments from David Graham of the FDA Office of Drug Safety and Janet Woodcock, FDA deputy associate commissioner (Hemmer, "Paula Zahn Now," CNN, 12/21). The complete transcript is available online.
NBC's "Nightly News": The segment includes comments from Jerry Avorn, a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and author of the book, "Powerful Medicines"; David Kessler, a former FDA commissioner; Graham; and Woodcock (Costello, "Nightly News," NBC, 12/21). The complete transcript and video of the segment in Windows Media are available online.
NPR's "All Things Considered": The segment includes comments from Avorn; Lester Crawford, acting FDA commissioner; Mark Fendrick, a professor at the University of Michigan; and Daniel Solomon of Brigham and Women's Hospital (Knox, "All Things Considered," NPR, 12/21). The complete segment is available online in RealPlayer.
NPR's "All Things Considered": NPR's Robert Siegel interviews Elinor Mody, a rheumatologist at Brigham and Women's Hospital (Siegel, "All Things Considered," NPR, 12/21). The complete segment is available online in RealPlayer.
NPR's "Day to Day": The segment includes comments from Crawford (Silberner, "Day to Day," NPR, 12/21). The complete segment is available online in RealPlayer.
NPR's "Day to Day": NPR's Alex Chadwick interviews Elizabeth Tindall, president of the American College of Rheumatology (Chadwick, "Day to Day," NPR, 12/21). The complete segment is available online in RealPlayer.
PBS' "NewsHour with Jim Lehrer": The segment includes comments from health correspondent Susan Dentzer and Zerhouni (Ifill, "NewsHour with Jim Lehrer," PBS, 12/21). The complete transcript is available online. The complete segment is available online in RealPlayer.
PBS' "Nightly Business Report": The segment includes comments from Janell Mayo Duncan, regulatory counsel for the Consumers Union; Alan Goldhammer, vice president of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America; and Henry Miller, a regulatory expert at the Hoover Institution (Gersh, "Nightly Business Report," PBS, 12/17). The complete transcript is available online.

This is part of the California Healthline Daily Edition, a summary of health policy coverage from major news organizations. Sign up for an email subscription.