Pharmaceutical Industry's Influence on Drug Regulatory Agencies (BMJ, 2 July 2022)

In case anyone was still unsure of this subtle process of pharma “capturing” health regulators worldwide, this investigation offers damning proof. Regulators, who are supposed to be independent and unbiased by heavy business investment in order to determine which medicine is safe or unsafe, are heavily subsidised. This applies to Federal Drugs Administration (FDA) in the USA, PMDA in Japan, European Medicines Agency (EMA) and our own Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). The significance of this form of financial control is easy to see: Members of these agencies have vested interests to “approve” products of the industry, without the unbiased opinion of experts without the same financial interests. The impact they have on governments is also apparent if they are the first governments will consult about the safety of a drug or a response to an epidemic. The moral of this story is simple, “use your critical thinking, before you accept any interventions, which are meant to do you good or protect from any harm; Those whose opinions count, may not be as objective as you think".

From FDA to MHRA: are drug regulators for hire? / 29 June 2022 / BMJ 2022;377:o1538