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Volume 357:633-635 August 16, 2007 Number 7 Next

	Since this article has no abstract, we have provided an extract of the first 100 words of the full text and any section headings.

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In many sectors of American life — energy, defense, finance, pharmaceuticals — the government stands poised between powerful industry groups and the needs of the citizenry. But in only one of these areas, prescription medications, is there a formal public mechanism for integrating science into the national decision-making process. At their best, U.S. drug-approval procedures include an open system in which outside scientists come together as advisory committees to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), publicly evaluate the available evidence, and render opinions to guide the agency's decisions. The approach is based on the insight that a deep reservoir of . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Source Information

Dr. Avorn is a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and chief of the Division of Pharmacoepidemiology and Pharmacoeconomics at Brigham and Women's Hospital — both in Boston.

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