FDA Tests New Computer Technology to Help Spot Dangerous Drugs
The FDA has been experimenting with new computer technology as part of a broader effort to test the safety and effectiveness of new drugs and to spot potential problems earlier on in the process. The technology, called the Cardiovascular PhysioLab, designed by Entelos Inc. of Foster City, California, is being used with three drugs being studied for heart-related conditions. The technology uses a mathematical model to simulate how the human body will react to certain chemical characteristics of drugs. The goal, thus, is to use the virtual model to predict whether such drugs might cause cardiovascular problems and, if so, in what types of patients.
While such novel efforts certainly show that the FDA is making a strong effort to research and consider the most groundbreaking technologies to ensure the safety of new drugs, it is likely that people will remain skeptic of what appears to be a computer program acting as a substitute for real patients until it has shown consistent, reliable results. Simply punching in the characteristics of a given patient and a particular drug to obtain a computer-generated result cannot guarantee the absolute same result in a living, breathing person. However, this could be a step forward at least in assisting the process and anticipating whether a drug could be dangerous for certain people before such adverse effects may occur. Read more about dangerous drugs and possible side effects.