That’s the message today from the Wall Street Journal’s Avery Johnson and Ron Winslow. The reporters document grousing of pharmaceutical executives who say the oft-criticized Food and Drug Administration has been overly cautious in approving prescription drugs for the market.

They might just have a point: last year the FDA approved just 19 new medicines, the fewest in 24 years. Medicines to help with obesity and heart problems are now being held up in the approval process.

At the same time, it’s hard to blame the FDA, which lawmakers have blasted for not thoroughly inspecting drugs and dealing with problems like food poisioning, for erring on the side of caution. All of this points to one imperfect, but damn helpful solution: give the agency more money to both approve safe drugs and disapprove unsafe ones.-MB

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