Americans confused about FDA and drug safety.

Although millions of Americans depend on prescription medicines for health, many are confused and distrustful of government's role in keeping those medicines safe, according to results of a new survey, "HealthDay News" reported Sept. 20.

In fact, many of those polled said they didn't understand how FDA approves drugs, and almost half judged the agency's performance as poor.

"The American people feel that health care is, after the war, the most important issue facing them and the 2008 presidential candidates," noted James Thurber, the director of the Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies at American University, which commissioned the survey." Americans feel drug safety is related to health care, and they are concerned about it," he added.

The Food and Drug Administration Revitalization Act just passed by Congress enjoyed the support of consumer advocates. "Congress is about to give the President legislation that should end the secrecy and foot-dragging when it comes to letting consumers know about unsafe medicines," Jim Guest, president of Consumers Union, said in a statement. "These reforms have been anxiously awaited by the millions of consumers who take a prescription drug every day and wonder if they know the truth about its side effects," he added.

In the meantime, however, Americans remain unsure about drug safety and FDA's record so far. Some key findings from the new survey, which was funded by a grant from pharmaceutical giant Pfizer:

Most Americans (64%) believe that the U.S. health care system is "broken."

More than three-quarters believe a candidate's position on drug safety is "somewhat important" in choosing the next president.

A vast majority of Americans (88%) are confident that prescription drugs made in the United States are safe. In contrast, only 56% think that drugs made in Canada and Europe are safe, and only 14% think that drugs made in China and India are safe.

Many of the drugs sold in the United States are made in China and India, Thurber noted. The poll noted 82% of those polled said they trust FDA when it comes to overseeing prescription drugs, 74% trust patient-advocate groups, 67% trust pharmaceutical companies, and 53% trust Congress.

A full 50% of Americans are skeptical of the ability of Congress to pass "common-sense" laws on how FDA approves drugs, however. "Only 6% trust Congress to do the right thing," Thurber said.

But while the public trusts the FDA on the whole, they are divided about the agency's performance:

Of those surveyed, 53% said FDA does an excellent or good job, while 47% rated its performance as fair or poor. Those aged 18-34 were more positive about FDA, while seniors were more negative.

Few (8%) had either seen, read or heard about the Food and Drug Administration Revitalization Act (FDARA), which has since been renamed the FDA Amendments Act of 2007.

People were equally divided on whether FDA's review of new drugs should be paid for by the drug industry--47% were for the move, and 46% were against it, HealthDay noted.

Only 54% knew that FDA approved all prescription drugs, while 37% thought that FDA approved only some drugs.

Many people were confused about where FDA gets its funding. Fifty-four percent said the government, 20% said drug companies, and 17% said both.

Nearly half of respondents (43%) believed that drug company profits were the biggest factor in drug costs, 28% thought drug prices were more linked to marketing costs, and only 25% cited the cost of research.

"There is a lot of mistrust in Congress about what it should or will do with respect with laws governing FDA," Thurber said. "There is also a lot of concern about the safety of drugs in the United States."

Educating the public would be a good first step, Thurber added. "FDA needs to do a better job about being transparent and open about what they do and their findings."

Cases like the 2004 withdrawal of the painkiller Vioxx (banned after being tied to heart risks) seriously undermined FDA's credibility and made some people wary of using any prescription drugs, he said.

The findings in the survey were based on calls to 800 adults. The survey was conducted by the Mellman Group and Public Opinion Strategies and ran from Sept. 4 to Sept. 6. The survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.46%.