The Drug Approval Process in the FDA On June 30, 1906, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) was established. Since that date, the FDA has been responsible for the safety of human and animal drugs and the reassurance of our nation’s food supply. This administration was created to protect the consumers who may not know what side effects their medications have or what ingredients could be in the food they eat that isn’t included on the back of the food products, which could also be fed to their children. As the FDA is usually known for the oversight of food, many may not know that the FDA is also in charge of approving every drug created and sold today. With the amount of money the FDA receives, there are still many flaws that must be fixed with the drug approval process, the cost of medications, and the drug administration itself. As the drug approval process in the FDA has been carefully trying to test the numerous new drugs, they have taken more time actually needed. Many may think that throughout the long period of testing these new drugs will make a tremendous change in the ill; however, many of those medications usually come with a long list of side effects. Usually, the side effects listed could affect the ill when he/she starts to take the new drugs, which could lead to severe diseases/problems. In the years 1900 through 1994 the United States outpaced three developed foreign drug producers: Japan, Germany, and Great Britain in approving major new drugs (Worsnop). To illuminate, compared to Germany, the United States approved 31 of the new 35 drugs as Germany only approved of 13 drugs. The question is, why is the United States FDA approving numerous amounts of new medications all at once? Most of the medications that are quickly approved end up having many side effects on those already ill. Moreover, there had to be a legit reason to why Japan, Germany, and Great Britain only approved a very small amount out of the 35 new drugs made. By using new technology to help the drug approval process become more legit and successful, instead, “drugs approvals by the FDA have been disappointing” (Miller). Many would think that with new technology and upgrades there should be new/better improvements in the drug approval process. However, “the 18 new medicines approved in 2007 represent the lowest figure in a quarter century” (Miller). The FDA is using high technology to help process new drugs through each of their approval, yet there isn’t any improvements being shown. Most importantly, the patients taking these medications are relying on them, little do they know, none of those medications are helping them improve their health problems. Although many drugs are being approved and put on the market, consumers or those in need for health improvements aren’t benefitting at all. Having the United States Food and Drug Administration to regulate laws for the drug industry gives Americans an advantage: the safety on what types of medications one should take to cure a specific illness. Although American citizens may have an advantage compared to other countries; however, if medications are too expensive to purchase, it’s more of a disadvantage because Americans would then have to go elsewhere to look for cheaper drugs to purchase. With “skyrocketing drug prices” “thousands of Americans shop for drugs in Los Algodones, Mexico, where a cluster of 28 pharmacies offer savings of up to 70 percent of prescription drugs” (Hatch). Clearly, the FDA is “forcing Americans to overpay by hundreds of millions of dollars for important and life-saving medications” (Hatch). Many Americans are desperate and are willing to pay endless amounts of money to keep a loved one healthy and alive, but if one doesn’t have the amount of money to pay he/she could easily lose a loved one. “Fueling the push for prescription drug coverage are skyrocketing costs for medications in the United States. In 2000, the average retail price of a
