Groups, the Media, Agency Waiting Costs, and FDA Drug Approval

political control of the bureaucracy, drug approval times appear insensitive to shifts in the partisanship or ideology of congressional majorities, oversight committees, and presidents. Controlling for numerous clinical factors, FDA review times are decreasing in (1) the wealth of the richest organization representing the disease treated by the drug, (2) me? dia coverage given to this disease, and (3) a nonlinear function of the number of groups representing this disease. Political influence over drug approval operates primarily through salience signals transmitted by groups and the media.