The FDA says some of these drugs in the hands of Americans could be potentially dangerous or even fatal.
"There's a regulatory black hole that makes it possible for the pharmaceutical companies to get these drugs to the stores that sell them without the FDA being able to monitor it," said Rep. Ed Markey, a Democrat from Massachusetts.
A CNN report outlines the process and the possible loophole that these potentially fatal drugs slip through. After a pharmaceutical company peitions to ave a new drug approved, the FDA assigns it with a 10-digit number called a National Drug Code for tracking through the approval process. However pharmacies also use this same number for ordering.
"I think most doctors, maybe all doctors, assume that if a medication is on the market, it has been approved by the FDA, it must be safe and effective," American Medical Association President Ron Davis said in a CNN report.
A nationwide survey of pharmacists showed nine out of 10 pharmacists didn't know that they may or could be dispsning our drugs fully approved.
What's even more interesting is FDA officials have known about this problem for more than 40 years but have done nothing about it. Officials now say they have begun issuing more warnings and have even pulled some of the drugs in question widely used off the "market."
