Cancer Drugs Approved Quickly but Not to Patient's Benefit

High priced cancer drugs get rushed approvals despite poor trial methodology and little effect on the longevity of patients, cautions Dr. Joel Lexchin, a physician and researcher at the School of Health Policy and Management in the Faculty of Health.

“Patients and their doctors should demand that regulators require pharma companies to provide clear evidence of clinical effectiveness of the drugs, resulting from rigorous methodology,” suggests Lexchin. “Drug agencies like the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the European Medicine Agency (EMA) don’t actually look at whether people live longer.”

Lexchiin and co-author Donald Light, a professor in the School of Osteopathic Medicine, Rowan University in New Jersey, note in an article published in the British Medical Journal titled “Why do cancer drugs get such an easy ride?” that accelerated approval and shortened review times also make it a smooth sail for cancer drugs.

Lexchin cites earlier research reviewing solid...

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