The process of prescription drug research and development is long (sometimes taking 15-plus years) and extremely complicated. During "discovery," researchers are dealing with thousands of different compounds, but by the time they are ready for clinical trials, they are usually working with less than 5. And while having "three phases" of clinical trials seems labor-intensives and even highly regulatory, the results of these trials are rarely disclosed to the public or even those in the FDA reviewing a drug's safety. In fact, most drugs are approved before phase 3 trials, and these subsequent trails are simply marketing ploys. So, while pharmaceutical companies would like us to believe that these hurdles ought to be disbanded, so as to quicken the approval process for these so-called "life-saving" drugs, more often than not, commercial interest is substituted for precautionary methods, resulting in such health scares as those experienced with Vioxx.
The process of prescription drug research and development is long (sometimes taking 15-plus years) and extremely complicated. During "discovery," researchers are dealing with thousands of different compounds, but by the time they are ready for clinical trials, they are usually working with less than 5. And while having "three phases" of clinical trials seems labor-intensives and even highly regulatory, the results of these trials are rarely disclosed to the public or even those in the FDA reviewing a drug's safety. In fact, most drugs are approved before phase 3 trials, and these subsequent trails are simply marketing ploys. So, while pharmaceutical companies would like us to believe that these hurdles ought to be disbanded, so as to quicken the approval process for these so-called "life-saving" drugs, more often than not, commercial interest is substituted for precautionary methods, resulting in such health scares as those experienced with Vioxx.
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