Rep. Maurice Hinchey (D-NY) says Congress has refused to act on several bills to reform the FDA, “because members are comfortably obliged to the pharmaceutical industry.”
 
But Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America associate vice president Alan Goldhammer says the issues confronting FDA are complex and “one doesn’t want to make dramatic policy changes without a thorough examination.”

Hinchey and Goldhammer were among several people interviewed for a Newark Star-Ledger story on the lack of action on FDA reform.

“We expected more urgency and we wanted more urgency,” said Diana Zuckerman, president of the National Research Center for Women and Families. “There has been a lot of talking, but that’s all.”
Later, Hinchey and other lawmakers staged an FDA 100th anniversary media event on June 29 to promote HR 4429, which calls for a new, independent Center for Post-market Drug Evaluation and Research within the FDA.