Testing Drugs

The Food and Drug Administration, which is currently revising rules governing the testing of new drugs, has shown good sense in its promise to the National Institute of Health that the new rules will not hinder qualified researchers. New discoveries are made more rapidly in medicine than perhaps any other field. While it is essential that the rules be tightened to prevent another mishap like the one which produced thousands of thalidomide-deformed babies, it is equally important that legitimate, controlled testing be carried on unhampered, so that the benefits of research may quickly reach the patient.