Contact: John Lewis
202.464.9340
Dateline NBC Report on Overseas Medical Research
Strengthens ACRO Argument for Increased FDA Funding
March 2, 2012 – WASHINGTON, DC – Association of Clinical Research Organizations (ACRO) Vice President of Public Affairs John Lewis released the following statement in anticipation of Sunday’s Dateline NBC report on global clinical trials:
“The American public should have full confidence in the medical research that goes into developing the drugs in their medicine cabinets. Our members contributed to the development of all of the top 20 selling prescription drugs and the vast majority of all new drugs approved by the FDA.
“Dateline NBC’s hidden camera investigation will illustrate the obvious: there are bad actors in every industry. Our understanding is that the companies highlighted in Dateline NBC’s report are not ACRO members and we do not condone their business practices.
“As we told Dateline NBC, in order to be successful, clinical research organizations must operate with the utmost integrity. Reputation is everything in our industry and ethical lapses and poor quality can have severe business consequences.
“ACRO member companies, whether in India or Indiana, adhere to the same high standards of research ethics, patient safety, quality and professionalism. Clinical research is a highly- regulated enterprise and ACRO has consistently pushed Congress to increase funding for the FDA’s overseas operations so the American people can continue to trust the quality of research supporting the drugs they take.”
About ACRO
The Association of Clinical Research Organizations (ACRO) represents companies that provide a variety of specialized services that support the development of new pharmaceuticals, biologics and medical devices. The association provides an active voice for the CRO industry globally. Through its member companies, ACRO helps improve the quality, efficiency and safety of biomedical research. ACRO member companies employ approximately 75,000 professionals worldwide and annually conduct more than 11,000 clinical trials involving nearly two million participants in 115 countries. For more information, please visit www.www.acrohealth.org. Twitter @acrohealth. YouTube @ACROHealthChannel.