Even as new drug approvals have been consistently increasing, the rate of market withdrawals for safety reasons has been decreasing for well over a decade. The chart on this page illustrates that 3.2 percent of drugs were withdrawn in the 1979-1983 time span, 3.5 percent in 1984-1988, 1.6 percent in 1989-1993, and only 1.2 percent in 1994-1998 (years with the Prescription Drug User Fee Act in place). ("New drug" refers to molecular entities, or products with an active substance not previously marketed in the United States.)

Return to Main Article   |   Table of Contents

Questions concerning the editorial content of FDA Consumer should be directed to FDA's Office of Public Affairs.

(Hypertext created by clb 1999-AUG-12)