About three-quarters (77%) of adults say they are confident in the FDA’s ability to ensure the safety of prescription drugs in the U.S., though more of these people say they are “somewhat” confident (55%) than “very” confident (22%). Just over two in ten (22%) say they are “not too” or “not at all” confident in the FDA.

The recent news attention on drug safety following the recall of the drug Vioxx calls into question whether the public’s view of the FDA has changed. When asked about the past few years, six in ten (62%) say that their confidence in the FDA’s ability to ensure safety has “remained the same”, although just over one-quarter (27%) say their confidence has decreased (8% say their confidence has increased).