Some medications " A Field Of Odd Fellows "

How many &to=http://english.pravda.ru/society/2002/07/12/32330.html' target=_blank>drugs already are on the market without having been evaluated adequately for safety?

Last week, Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, called for an independent federal panel, similar to the 9/11 Commission, to investigate drug safety. It was recognition, far too long in coming, that things have gone terribly wrong at the Food and Drug Administration.

Millions of Americans have paied more for a new arthritis drug that's no better at relieving pain than dozens of other drugs already on the market. Thanks to them, a class of pain relievers called COX-2 inhibitors - Pfizer's Celebrex and Bextra, and Merck's Vioxx - have become blockbusters. Celebrex is expected to bring in $3.3 billion this year. Vioxx accounted for $2.5 billion in sales last year.