Think-tank finds faults in Enzi-Kennedy bill

The Center for Medicine in the Public Interest, whose co-directors wrote an oped in the Washington Times newspaper that was fairly favorable about the Enzi-Kennedy bill (nicknamed Kenzi), claims to have now found several flaws in the legislation which, if left unadressed, would compromise the bill's desirability. "We were warned that, despite some of the more forward looking elements of the first draft of the bill made available, we might want to revise our remarks (that is, eat our words) after the full draft of the bill came out)," said Robert Goldberg, the CMPI's vice president.

The current draft contains major flaws, according to Dr Goldberg, including: the requirement of a risk management plan for all drugs; a clinical trials registry that "makes no scientific sense" because it undermines patent rights; and "ignoring the advanced technologies that will make medicines safer in the future."