U.S. House panel sets drug safety hearing

A senior U.S. Food and Drug Administration official will testify at a congressional hearing next week on the agency’s drug safety efforts, a congressional spokeswoman said on Thursday.

The House Energy and Commerce Committee has set a Wednesday hearing “to get an overview of what is going on now with the agency with respect to drug safety,” said Karen Lightfoot, a spokeswoman for the panel’s chairman, Representative Henry Waxman.

“It’s not specific to a certain, particular drug,” she said.

Deputy FDA Commissioner Joshua Sharfstein is scheduled to testify before the panel’s health subcommittee, Lightfoot said.

Democrats sharply criticized the FDA in the past as being slow to respond to reports of serious side effects with approved drugs.

The agency took steps in recent years to beef up the monitoring of drugs after they reach the market.

WASHINGTON (Reuters)