Kudos to U.S. Sen. Angus King, and also to Sen. Susan Collins, for seeking to reform a broken drug development process overseen by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
These lawmakers know that we pay too much for drugs and wait too long for them – as long as 15 years for a new drug to come to market.
What’s more, adverse reactions to drugs are the fourth leading cause of death in the U.S.
One reason: the federal government mandates years of animal testing before drugs go to human clinical trials. But the reality is, animal tests are not very predictive of the human response to drugs, failing to translate in more than 90 percent of cases.
When we use 21st-century human-biology based methods, we can screen drugs more carefully for safety and effectiveness. Both of Maine’s senators have cosponsored the FDA Modernization Act, S. 2952, to do just that.
I applaud them for fighting for patients and ending needless and inaccurate animal testing in favor of 21st-century science.
Gina Garey
Animal Wellness Action
Portland
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.