FDA Receives High Marks

A Harris Interactive poll of 2245 adults found that a majority of Americansbelieve that the FDA is doing a good job of providing safe and effectivemedicines. The results of the survey were as follows:

• 56% of the respondents rated the FDA's performance excellent, comparedwith 37% who described it as fair or poor
• 69% of the respondents thought that it was more important to beable to afford drugs even if they are not the newest drugs available,compared with 21% who said that they wanted access to new andbetter drugs, regardless of price
• A slightly higher number of seniors 65 years or older preferredaffordable drugs, even if they are not the newest medicines