Medicare has different standards than the FDA. That’s how it should be

STAT News, February 2, 2024: NCHR’s Diana Zuckerman’s commentary in STAT News explains why Medicare should not pay for every medical product that FDA approves, since some are more likely to harm rather than help Medicare patients. She points out that FDA does not require diversity in clinical trials and rarely includes enough older and less healthy patients that tend to rely on Medicare.

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NCHR Public Comment on Communications From Firms to Healthcare Providers Regarding Scientific Information on Unapproved Uses of Approved Medical Products

December 26, 2023: We responded to the FDA’s request for public comment about the scientific information (SIUU) that firms can provide to healthcare providers about the unapproved uses of approved medical products. Promotion for unapproved (off label) uses were prohibited years ago, but that has been loosened over the decades and the FDA’s new draft guidance is worrisome because it is not as specific as it should be about how to ensure that the information the companies provide is accurate and not misleading. We agree with some of the guidance but urge more careful wording to ban the use of poor quality data and misinterpretation.

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