Read Full Report
Date: July 9, 2010
Contacts: Christine Stencel, Senior Media Relations Officer
Christopher White, Media Relations Assistant
Office of News and Public Information
202-334-2138; e-mail <news@nas.edu>
REPORT OFFERS FDA A FRAMEWORK FOR EVALUATING ETHICAL ISSUES
WHEN DECIDING WHETHER TO REQUIRE POSTMARKETING STUDIES OF DRUGS
WASHINGTON — A new letter report from the Institute of Medicine recommends a conceptual framework to help the U.S. Food and Drug Administration evaluate the ethical issues involved in determining whether companies should start or continue clinical trials on approved drugs and in ensuring that these studies are ethically conducted. FDA has recently gained enhanced authority to require drug companies to undertake studies of their products after they are put on the market, which presents the agency with additional challenges.
The report's proposed framework underscores the importance of FDA's decision-making processes and study design considerations. FDA should ensure that any randomized, controlled trial to evaluate the efficacy and safety of an approved drug that is suspected of causing serious adverse events is conducted only when the existing evidence and any evidence from new observational studies would be insufficient to enable the agency to make responsible policy decisions. The agency should determine that questions about a drug's possible risks or risk-benefit balance rise to the level of requiring a policy decision, such as whether to revise the product's label.
In addition, FDA should make sure that trials are appropriately designed to resolve uncertainties about efficacy and safety and to minimize risks to participants. Risks should be judged acceptable by appropriate oversight bodies, and participants and studies should be continuously monitored to assure that the risks continue to be acceptable. The process of informed consent should continue over the course of the trials, and participants should be promptly advised of substantial changes in clinical practice or professional standards and new research findings that could affect their willingness to accept the risks associated with a trial. FDA should apply principles and practices of regulatory science to ensure that its policy decisions reflect the best available scientific evidence and analytic techniques and that they are made in a transparent way to ensure public accountability.
The report responds to one of several questions FDA asked IOM to explore in a review of ethical and scientific issues related to studying the safety of drugs on the market. Specifically, this letter report addresses the ethical and informed consent issues that must be considered when designing randomized clinical trials to evaluate potential safety risks. FDA requested an initial report on the ethical issues in advance of a meeting it will hold July 13 and 14 to discuss the case of the diabetes drug Avandia. The report addresses issues at play in this case, but does not delve into or respond to the specifics of the Avandia case. Rather, the authoring committee provided a conceptual framework that would be broadly applicable to many situations.
Given the short time frame available to prepare the letter report, the study committee did not detail all the ways the issues raised in the report can affect the ethics of a study, or explore issues related to the ethical and scientific justifications of clinical trials in depth. A more detailed analysis of these issues and their implications and effects will be included in the committee's final report, which will be completed in the spring of 2011.
The report was requested by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Established in 1970 under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences, the Institute of Medicine provides independent, objective, evidence-based advice to policymakers, health professionals, the private sector, and the public. The National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, Institute of Medicine, and National Research Council make up the National Academies. A committee roster follows.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Copies of Ethical Issues in Studying the Safety of Approved Drugs: A Letter Report are available from the National Academies Press; tel. 202-334-3313 or 1-800-624-6242 or on the Internet at http://www.nap.edu. Reporters may obtain a copy from the Office of News and Public Information (contacts listed above).
[ This news release and report are available at http://national-academies.org ]
INSTITUTE OF MEDICINE
Board on Population Health and Public Health Practice
Committee on Ethical and Scientific Issues in Studying the Safety of Approved Drugs
Ruth R. Faden, Ph.D., M.P.H. (co-chair)
Philip Franklin Wagley Professor of Biomedical Ethics, and
Director
Berman Institute of Bioethics
Bloomberg School of Public Health
Johns Hopkins University
Baltimore
Steven N. Goodman, M.D., M.H.S., Ph.D. (co-chair)
Professor of Oncology, Pediatrics, Epidemiology, and Biostatistics
Bloomberg School of Public Health and School of Medicine
Johns Hopkins University
Baltimore
Alasdair Breckenridge, M.D., F.R.C.P.
Chairman
Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency
London
Lisa Egbuonu-Davis, M.D., M.P.H., M.B.A.
Managing Director
LED Enterprise LLC
Montclair, N.J.
Miguel A. Hernán, M.D., Dr.P.H.
Associate Professor
Department of Epidemiology
Harvard School of Public Health
Boston
Grace M. Lee, M.D., M.P.H.
Assistant Professor
Department of Population Medicine
Harvard Medical School; and
Assistant Professor of Pediatrics
Division of Infectious Diseases, and
Associate Medical Director of Infection Control
Children's Hospital Boston
Boston
Michelle Mello, J.D., Ph.D.
Professor of Law and Public Health
Department of Health Policy and Management
Harvard School of Public Health
Boston
Eric M. Meslin, Ph.D.
Director
Center for Bioethics, and
Associate Dean for Bioethics
School of Medicine
Indiana University
Indianapolis
Larry I. Palmer, LL.B.
Professor of Health Administration
School of Allied Health Professions
Virginia Commonwealth University
Richmond, and
Professor of Law
Marshall-Wythe School of Law, and
Research Professor
Thomas Jefferson Program in Public Policy’s Schroder Center for Healthcare Policy
College of William and Mary
Williamsburg, Va.
Bruce M. Psaty, M.D., Ph.D., M.P.H.
Professor of Medicine, Epidemiology, and Health Services, and
Co-Director
Cardiovascular Health Research Unit
University of Washington; and
Investigator
Group Health Research Institute
Group Health Cooperative
Seattle
Thomas R. Ten Have, Ph.D, M.P.H.
Professor of Biostatistics,
Associate Director Biostatistics Unit, and
Faculty Director
Biostatistics Analysis Center
Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics
University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine
Philadelphia
William Vaughan B.A.
Consultant
Consumer's Union
Washington, D.C.
STAFF
Michelle C. Catlin, Ph.D.
Study Director |
