US FDA/AHRQ accord on Rx effectiveness, safety

The USA's Food and Drug Administration and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality have announced a new collaborative effort to advance scientific research and foster research partnerships on drug effectiveness and safety.

"Through this collaboration, we will gain an improved understanding of the health outcomes associated with marketed drugs that we will leverage to improve the quality of information we provide to the public," said Gerald Dal Pan, director of the FDA's Office of Drug Safety.

In mid-January, Anne Trontell, deputy director of the FDA's Office of Drug Safety, will begin a 12-month agency-sponsored detail as a senior advisor in pharmaceutical outcomes research in the AHRQ's Center for Outcomes and Evidence. Dr Trontell, a Captain in the US Public Health Service, will also promote collaborative drug safety and effectiveness research by the FDA, AHRQ, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and academic and professional bodies. Her duties will include participation in effectiveness and risk communication research and outreach conducted by the AHRQ Effective Health Care Program, which compares treatment alternatives, including drugs, and communicates its findings broadly to help patients and health care providers make health care choices.