Me too drugs.In "Trial and Error" (October), Merrill Goozner criticizes the idea that FDA FDA abbr. Food and Drug Administration FDA, n.pr See Food and Drug Administration. FDA, n.pr the abbreviation for the Food and Drug Administration. approval be denied to any drug that offers trivial advantages over drugs already available, but he fails to suggest two strong criticisms: One, a "me too" drug can offer competition to a similar drug even though it isn't a generic equivalent. For example, most patients with high cholesterol Cholesterol, High Definition Cholesterol is a fatty substance found in animal tissue and is an important component to the human body. It is manufactured in the liver and carried throughout the body in the bloodstream. can be treated with any of the commonly prescribed "statin stat·in n. Any of a class of drugs that inhibit a key enzyme involved in the synthesis of cholesterol and promote receptor binding of LDL cholesterol, resulting in decreased levels of serum cholesterol. " drugs, though some are stronger than others. And it several drugs are available, there are alternatives it one turns out to cause problems that show up only after a few years on the market. Baycol, a "statin" that has been withdrawn, is one example--patients could easily switch to other medicines. I agree that the pharmaceutical industry spends a lot of money developing "me too" drugs and even more promoting them, but I value having choices within a class of drugs. David Grant, M.D. San Antonio, Texas “San Antonio” redirects here. For other uses, see San Antonio (disambiguation). San Antonio is the second most populous city in Texas, the third most populous metropolitan area in Texas, and is the seventh most populous city in the United States. As of the 2006 U.S. |
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