Why not reciprocity?? Burned by the FDA

Alex Tabarrock asks why the US FDA has to duplicate drug approvals already completed by reliable nations – e.g.. Germany, Great Britain. Is there any explanation other than aggregation of power to the bureaucracy?

If you lived in Great Britain or Germany and your physician prescribed a pharmaceutical, would you ask them, ‘has this pharmaceutical been approved by the U.S. FDA?’ Probably not. At FDAReview.org Dan Klein and I argue that international reciprocity is a no-brainer:

If the United States and, say, Great Britain had drug-approval reciprocity, then drugs approved in Britain would gain immediate approval in the United States, and drugs approved in the United States would gain immediate approval in Great Britain. Some countries such as Australia and New Zealand already take into account U.S. approvals when making their own approval decisions. The U.S. government should establish reciprocity with countries that have a proven record of approving safe drugs—including most west European countries, Canada, Japan, and Australia. Such an arrangement would reduce delay and eliminate duplication and wasted resources. By relieving itself of having to review drugs already approved in partner countries, the FDA could review and investigate NDAs more quickly and thoroughly.

Unfortunately, even when they can, the US FDA does not take advantage of international knowledge as the WSJ notes in European Sunscreen Roadblock on U.S. Beaches:

Eight sunscreen ingredient applications have been pending before the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for years—some for up to a decade—for products available in many overseas countries. The applications were filed through the federal TEA process (time and extent application), which allows the FDA to approve the ingredients if they have been used for at least five years abroad and have proved effective and safe.

…Henry Lim, chairman of dermatology at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit and a member of the American Academy of Dermatology, says multiple UVA filters still awaiting clearance in the U.S. have been used effectively outside the country for years.

‘The U.S. is an island by itself on this one,’ he said. ‘They’re available in Canada, available in Europe, available in Asia, available in Mexico, and available in South America.’