What is it going to take for the government to realize that a full investigation needs to be… What is it going to take for the government to realize that a full investigation needs to be done regarding the practices of the Food and Drug Administration?

A recent study showed that while the amount of money spent on medical research has doubled, the number of drugs being approved has significantly decreased.

During the past 10 years, $94.3 billion has been given to research, with industries contributing 57 percent, National Institutes of Health contributing 28 percent and the government giving the remaining 15 percent.

Despite these investments, a third fewer drugs have been put on the market in the past decade, with approvals by the FDA dropping by more than 12 percent in the last three years.

According to the study, the biggest factors in explaining this decline in approved medicines despite the increase in research costs are the complexity and length of the clinical trials and the amount of money drug companies are appropriating to advertising costs.

The fact is that America’s medical system is undoubtedly wed to capitalism, and drug companies must advertise to stay in business. But the one thing we do have control over is the FDA. The recent situation of significantly fewer medicines with tremendous financial backing – specifically by industry capital – could be explained by a rigorous system imposed by the FDA to ensure that Americans only receive quality medicine. However, it’s also likely that this is tied to the various conflicts of interest that the organization promotes as they complacently let members with financial conflicts sit on their review boards and panels. This leaves another possibility open, which is that these members will not approve medicines that could compete with those that have already been approved.

It’s no secret where all the money comes from. More than half of the money given to medical research is from the same companies who stand to greatly benefit from their product if it’s approved. But even more complacent than the FDA are our elected officials who sit back and allow the FDA to continue in its corrupt state, taking several stances that they do not enforce.

As recently as this month, The New York Times reported on a vote on diabetes medication in which three of the nine committee members had potential conflicts of interest. These members received waivers that enabled them to vote, and it’s no surprise that the panel recommended the drug be approved.

Beyond the inner workings of the FDA and its deliberations are the everyday examples that show the growing problems with drug approval. Besides Vioxx and other obviously lethal medicines approved by the FDA, drugs continue to keep people thriving as incurable diseases weaken them. We pathologize everything, even personality types, and although there is no cure, there’s treatment.

Furthermore, advertising is suspicious. The target audience that Viagra is marketed to gets progressively younger as the years go by, and one can’t help but wonder whether the FDA is approving products to actually help people or simply for recreational purposes.

It took Hurricane Katrina for us to realize the inadequacies of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. And it took the events that occurred on Sept. 11, 2001, for us to realize that we needed better intelligence systems. What is it going to take for us to realize that the FDA is also faulty?