Access To Drugs

I recommend that C&EN follow up on its informative articles on the pharmaceutical industry (Feb. 24, page 18, and March 3, page 13) by examining the following: First, the annual cost per patient for new pharmaceutical products is more than $100,000 per year and thus is not economically sustainable. Would Medicare and private insurance companies even accept such costs?

Second, the Food & Drug Administration has forced “in the interest of safety” the removal of many once-approved pharmaceuticals from the market. Pharmacists I have talked with often have trouble obtaining needed inventory. I know part of this is due to substandard products imported from overseas. However, FDA itself has implemented many policies that are counterproductive to public health, and pharmaceutical trade associations have not had the will or desire to challenge such decisions.

From the viewpoints of both public health policies and the future employment of chemists, clinicians, and other scientists by the pharmaceutical industry, I feel strongly that these issues should be examined at considerable depth.

Jeffrey R. Ellis
Weston, Fla.