For the most part U.S. consumers have access to ample information to make wise and safe buying choices. Online resources include consumer reports and buyer’s reviews for nearly every product; when you are looking to buy a vehicle or car seat, you can easily learn which tests best under high impact. Plastics and paints are regulated to prevent the use of carcinogenic contents, particularly in the cases of dishes and toys. But when it comes to items designed to ingest, American consumers often feel nervous about who to trust. The Food and Drug Association (FDA) is the government entity charged with regulating prescription drugs and food. Scandals and controversial practices on the part of the FDA have led many U.S. buyers to doubt the effectiveness of the agency.
The birth control pill Yaz is one example of a product that has been met with a fair amount of FDA backpedalling. Sold by the pharmaceutical giant Bayer, Yaz was once the most popular birth control pill in the world. But several FDA Yaz Blood Clots Warning letters and reports of serious adverse effects from women taking the drug have led many consumers to turn away from Yaz.
The fact that Yaz has been found to be dangerous after its FDA approval is not necessarily the point of contention FDA critics have. The problem is that the FDA has asserted Bayer knew about health risks associated with the drug and failed to disclose them. Bayer has also been blamed for making exaggerated claims about the efficacy of the drug. With access to the company’s clinical tests, the FDA should have enforced safety regulations before millions of American women started taking Yaz. If initial tests showed that Yaz raised blood potassium levels to extreme and unsafe levels, the Food and Drug Administration should have checked that the product warning information included a clear warning. Bayer is catching the blame now, in the form of Yaz blood clot lawsuits, but perhaps some of the blame should fall to the FDA. Pharmaceutical companies answer first to their shareholders and thus va lue profits over any other factor. If they did value safety over profit, there would be no need for a regulating agency. It could be argued that Bayer was just trying to maximize profit, and the FDA failed to ensure the drug was safe or the consumer was adequately warned of potential risks.
This situation reveals that deciding where to place the blame for prescription drug problems is not necessarily straightforward. And therein lies the challenge to consumers: if corporations are willing to obscure facts in order to sell more product, and the FDA has been found inadequate or delinquent in some cases, how do we know which products are truly safe and trustworthy? When we doubt the efficacy of the FDA, we realize that any product the agency has approved as safe may actually be harmful. Many women who have experienced serious health problems as a result of taking Yaz have hired a Yaz blood clot attorney in order to recover damages from Bayer. But the FDA remains unchecked, and American consumers are left to wonder which prescription drug will come into question next.
