Putting Safety First

The other week I wrote about how Barack Obama has the chance to emulate Theodore (not Franklin) Roosevelt, by modernizing the FDA.  Roosevelt’s goal, of course, was to ensure food and drugs were safe. 

An op-ed in today’s Baltimore Sun eloquently points out why Barack Obama should put “safety first” in regards to pushing generic biologic drugs (called follow-on biologics).

This is tricky stuff, because follow-on biologics are much more complicated to copy and get right than are traditional drugs. 

Let’s hope both Congress and the FDA get this one right - Lord knows, we don’t need another Heparin scare like we had last year ...