Congressmen call for the review of several FDA drug approvals

WASHINGTON Did the Food and Drug Administration knowingly approve the marketing of dangerous drugs in the United States?

Reps. John Dingell and Bart Stupak, both Democrats of Michigan and chairmen of the respective Committee on Energy and Commerce and the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee, said Wednesday that they would expand the committee’s two-year inquiry into whether the FDA has the capacity and leadership to protect Americans from unsafe prescription drugs.

In a letter to the FDA, the committee requested documents relating to the Aug. 2 recall of drugs made at Actavis Totowa’s Amide Pharmaceuticals plant in Little Falls, N.J. The letter followed an inquiry into FDA regulatory failures in the case of unsafe manufacturing practices by Ranbaxy.