VA Residents: Tell Your Senators to Call for a Full Investigation of the FDA's

Earlier this month, the Washington Post exposed the FDA for taking part in a blatant “pay-to-play” scheme: companies paid as much as $25,000 to attend meetings with FDA officials to shape policy on how drug manufacturers can prove the “safety and effectiveness” of painkillers.

Sen. Joe Manchin III of West Virginia—one of the states hardest hit by the painkiller epidemic—is now calling for a full investigation of the FDA’s role in these meetings.

Ask your senators to add their voice to Sen. Manchin’s in calling for a full Senate probe!

Please personalize your message if you have the time!

Recipients

Senator Tim Kaine
Senator Mike R. Warner

Contact

*Required fields

* Title:

* First Name:

* Last Name:

* Your Email:

* Address 1:

Address 2:

* City:

* State / Province:

* ZIP / Postal Code:

* Phone Number:

Yes, I would like to receive periodic updates and communications from Alliance for Natural Health USA.

Remember me. What's this?

Message

* Subject:

Dear [Decision Maker],

* Personalize your message

I was disappointed to learn of the FDA's role in what appears to be a blatant "pay-to-play" scheme: earlier this month, a Washington Post investigation revealed that drug companies paid as much as $25,000 to attend meetings with FDA officials to shape the agency's policy on painkillers.

We all know that the epidemic of painkiller abuse is completely out of control. FDA-approved painkillers cause more deaths a year than heroin and cocaine combined, account for two-thirds of drug overdose fatalities, killed 16,000 Americans in 2010 alone, and, according to the CDC, have directly contributed to a sharp rise in our country's suicide rate. Plus, non-medical use of painkillers puts an annual burden of $72.5 billion on our healthcare system.

Sen. Joe Manchin III (R-WV) has called for a full investigation into the FDA's role in these meetings, and I encourage you to add your voice to his. Sen. Manchin has "serious doubts about the FDA's ability to make objective and scientifically based decisions regarding the proper treatment of prescription painkillers." The agency needs to work for American consumers, not drug companies.

Despite an explosion in the abuse of such highly addictive painkillers as oxycodone (the main ingredient in OxyContin) and hydrocodone (found in drugs like Vicodin), the FDA has refused opportunities for action: in 2008, it denied a DEA request for stricter regulation of hydrocodone, and in early 2013, the FDA's own panel of experts recommended that FDA toughen restrictions on highly addictive painkillers -- a recommendation the agency has yet to accept.

Furthermore, there is evidence that the FDA contributed to the painkiller epidemic in the first place. In 1995, it approved the labeling claim "delayed absorption" for OxyContin tablets because extended release was assumed to make them less addictive than other painkillers. In 2007, the FDA turned around and fined Purdue (OxyContin's producer) $600 million for telling doctors that Oxy is less addictive than immediate-release opiates. (This fine was of course only a pinprick given the $26 billion worth of Oxy sold since approval). Now, in a September 2013 press release, the FDA has completely reversed itself and decided that extended release is more, not less, addictive.

Considering the inappropriate nature of the FDA's involvement in these "pay-to-play" meetings -- especially in the context of FDA's history of mismanaging painkiller labeling and approval -- I ask you to join Sen. Manchin in calling for a full investigation of the FDA's role in these meetings.

Sincerely,
[Your Name]
[Your Address]
[City, State ZIP]

Protecting Natural Health