Today's Recall of Breast Cancer Drug Avastin: Scandalous FDA Drug Recall That Many Deem "Death Panel" Decision

The Sun-Sentinel is one of a huge number of news media sources covering today's announced recall by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of Avastin, a drug designed for breast cancer treatment. (Read the FDA Announcement here.)

The FDA's reason? "Drug not shown to be safe and effective in breast cancer patients."

Already, there is a growing outcry across the country:

• The Washington Examiner brings up this as an example of government death panels;
• Chicago Now also points to this as the beginning of death panels, here targeting women suffering from breast cancer;
• And, as of this posting there were already 9710 signatures on an online petition whose goal was 10,000 signatures, asking the FDA NOT to pull Avastin from the marketplace.

Here's the key, Miami: for some folk, this drug helps. It's one thing for the FDA to monitor and regulate bad drugs or defective products -- but what about those cancer patients who find that Avastin helps them?

Is this the beginning of the death panels?

And, why isn't the FDA spending more time cleaning up the greed that we have overwhelming evidence of (see our posts here), reining in Big Pharma?

Finally, no. You can't sue the FDA. As much as there are many personal injury attorneys out there that would love to help women already fighting breast cancer in their fight to keep Avastin, under the doctrine of "sovereign immunity," you cannot sue the FDA for their actions. No matter how much you would like to do so.

By Bryant Esquenazi on December 16, 2010 10:39 AM