According to a recent poll conducted by Research!America, one of the nation’s largest non-profit public education and advocacy alliances, almost half of Americans say the review process for approving the latest medical breakthroughs takes too long. Mary Woolley, president of Research!America said:

“Americans have faith in our scientists and research institutions but think we can do more to speed up that process. In our latest poll, 72% of Americans say they are confident in our current system for reviewing the effectiveness and safety of new medicines and medical devices before making them available, but 41% say the approval process takes too long. Speeding up our process without sacrificing safety is clearly important for health and also for maintaining global leadership.”

John Edward Porter, former Illinois Congressman and chair of Research!America, added:

“To truly improve the health of all Americans, our health care system must have a stronger foundation of research. Investing in medical research brings hope for solutions to diseases that currently have none, and it controls costs by basing our health care on the best science, telling us which tests and treatments work best for which patients. It also gives us a stronger economic future by creating more knowledge-based jobs.”

This announcement comes just two days before the President’s health care summit on February 25.