Drug Safety Bill Stalled In State Legislature

	This Paxil ad is an example of the company's targeting of children and teens. The anti-depressant increases risk of suicidal thoughts in young people.

California’s doctors and patients were dealt a setback by the state legislature this summer when it failed to advance the Pharmaceutical Drug Right-to-Know Act.

The legislation, by Senator Jack Scott (Altadena), would have required pharmaceutical companies to disclose the results of all their health studies, good and bad.

“From Vioxx to Paxil, the pharmaceutical industry has failed to tell the whole truth about the potential side effects of drugs on the market. These tragedies make it clear that we can’t rely on the drug companies to disclose this information and keep this from happening again,” said Emily Clayton, CALPIRG’s Health Care Advocate.

While the legislation was supported by a broad coalition of consumer, senior, health and labor organizations, legislators were under heavy pressure from pharmaceutical industry lobbyists to defeat the measure.

“We understand that the pharmaceutical industry would rather not come clean about all of their health studies, but we know that sunshine is the best disinfectant and will continue working to shine the light of day on these tests,” Clayton added.