ARTICLES / General / The
FDA's Role /
Other ArticlesBy Mira Lowe, Staff Writer
The FDA has plans for the future to
ensure the safety of the population. These plans include
improvement of the diagnostic tests for the nation’s
blood supply, enhancement of the quality and accuracy of
clinical trial designs so that firms can bring new drugs
to patients faster and more cost-effectively, and new
methods to detect food contaminants to counter the
emergence of previously unknown foodborne pathogens like
mad cow disease.
So now, when you as caregiver or senior
citizen read about or hear about a new drug that has not
yet been approved by the FDA, you know that this means
that the time it takes to hit the market, if approved,
can be anytime from six months to a year; perhaps not as
long as you expected.
