RE: Over 100,000 people die a year in the US from FDA approved drugs.
Is it really the drugs that killed these people, or the disease that the drugs were intended to cure?
Actually it is over 100,000 that is documented. I am sure that it is actually a heck of a lot more than 100,000 dead as a result of FDA approved drugs. The majority are not reported.
The FDA does not do its own investigating before drugs are approved. In a clinical trial the company producing the drug contracts with an investigator (usually a doctor at a hospital_) to conduct a clinical trial. The docotr agrees to conduct the study accoring to drug company specifications and to recruit patients fitting the criteria into the study. The drug company will from time to time check on the progress of the study, but the FDA is almost NEVER involved in the study process. The FDA only approves the drugs or medical devises for use based upon the drug company’s data from the clinical trials. This data is very often “fudged” to give a better outcome so the drug will receive approval. There is big money involved and the stakes are high. Based on what I saw in my career as a clinical trial auditor, I’m surprised there are not more bad drugs.