The bill received an overwhelming 403-16 response in votes thus giving the Food and Drug Administration an ability to spend nearly $400 million on drug safety over the next five years. The amount was collected as fees from the drug industry.
Since the Senate has already given a go to the similar legislation, both bills would now give FDA the ability to require drug companies to do follow-up studies on certain medicines.
According to AP reports, the FDA would now have power to review the safety of certain drugs annually for the first three years following approval and then again during the seventh year.
Additionally, the FDA would make it mandatory for drug ads to include a toll-free number and Web address for consumers to report side effects. It would also give the FDA authority to require further studies of drugs after they hit the market. The new legislation has also given powers to the FDA where in it can order label changes to a drug or restrict its use or distribution.
