Not that the agency generates warm and fuzzy feelings in everyone, but the FDA does fare better than big pharma, according to a survey, which was commissioned by the Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies at American University and funded by a grant from Pfizer. Here are the results….

- 88 percent are confident that drugs made in the US are safe;
- 56 percent think drugs made in Canada and Europe are safe;
- 14 percent believe drugs made in China and India are safe;
- 82 percent trust the FDA to oversee meds;
- 74 percent trust patient-advocacy groups;
- 67 percent trust drugmakers;
- 53 percent trust Congress.
- 53 percent say the FDA does an excellent or good job;
- 47 percent rated the FDA’s performance as fair or poor;
- People aged 18-34 were more positive about the FDA, seniors were more negative;
- Only 8 percent had either seen, read, or heard about the FDA reform bill;
- 47 percent supported user fees;
- 46 percent opposed user fees;
- Only 54 percent knew the FDA approved all prescription drugs;
- And 37 percent thought that the FDA approved only some drugs;
- 54 percent said the government provides FDA funding;
- 20 percent said drug companies provide funding, and 17 percent said both.
- 43 percent believed industry profits are the biggest factor in drug costs;
- 28 percent thought drug prices were more linked to marketing costs;
- only 25 percent cited the cost of research.
- 72 percent said that safety was more important than fast reviews;
- 23 percent drugs approved as fast as possible;

- More than 75 percent believe a candidate’s position on drug safety is “somewhat important” in choosing the next president.

One expert believes the survey didn’t go far enough. “Instead of focusing on whether safety is important, it would be much more interesting to ask the American people whether they would be willing to make real tradeoffs in the development and availability of innovative and potentially lifesaving therapies in order to improve our safety record,” says Mark Fendrick, a professor of health management and policy at the University of Michigan. “This is the real question that needs to be addressed, and it does not appear that most of the public opinion surveys are willing to go that far.”

The findings in the survey were based on calls to 800 adults. The survey was conducted by the Mellman Group and Public Opinion Strategies and ran from Sept. 4 to Sept. 6, 2007. The survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.46 percent.

You can read more here.