Poll Sees Opposition to 21st Century Cures Provisions
A Harvard School of Public Health poll finds that a majority of Americans don’t favor some key provisions of the 21st Century Cures Act and its companion Senate legislation. The poll also found that few people think FDA does a good job of regulating prescription drugs and medical devices. As reported online, “a majority of Americans do not favor these measures, after being told that changing government regulation could help make new drugs and devices available faster to patients, but could also increase the risk that therapies with harmful side effects or ones that are less effective could be approved for public use. Additionally, most adults do not believe that these changes to accelerate the development and review process would lead to lower drug prices for consumers.”
The report says that so far, most conversations about the legislative packages have primarily occurred in Congress, academic journals, and industry publications, with little mass media coverage. The poll says it aims to illuminate how Americans feel about some of the major changes proposed by the bills which may, in turn, better inform Congress’ ongoing deliberations.
The results show that 58% of those surveyed oppose changing government standards to make the process of developing new prescription drugs faster, while 50% oppose such changes for medical devices. Of those who were interviewed about prescription drugs, 39% said the changes in government standards would have no impact on the price of drugs, 38% said it would drive drug prices higher, and 19% said it would lower prices.
Participants were asked whether FDA should consider prices when making drug approval decisions. Some 49% said the agency should not be allowed to deny approval of a drug if it decides the price is too high, while 44% said that is something FDA should be allowed to do.
Poll participants also were asked how well FDA regulates new prescription drugs. Some 53% said the agency does a fair or poor job regulating the safety and effectiveness of new drugs, while 33% believe it does a good job and 8% say it does an excellent job. Adults ages 18-29 (52%) were significantly more likely than adults over age 50 (33%) to say that the agency does an excellent or good job.
When asked about FDA regulation of medical devices, 49% said the agency does a good or excellent job, while 35% said it does a fair or poor job. Self-identified Democrats (52%) were significantly more likely than Republicans (36%) to say that FDA does an excellent or good job of regulating medical devices.
Asked about direct-to-consumer prescription drug advertising, 57% of respondents said they support removing such ads from television, while 39% oppose banning the ads. The poll also asked about participants’ personal experiences with television drug ads and only 7% said they had considered taking a drug they saw advertised on television in the past 12 months, while 93% said they had not considered taking an advertised drug. Among those who had considered taking an advertised drug, 76% said the ad clearly told them what they needed to know about the possible risks or side effects they might experience if they took the drug, and 24% said the ad did not clearly explain the risks and side effects.