An advocacy group is charging that the FDA is holding outside advisory panel meetings less often than it did a decade ago. Public Citizen's Health Research Group analyzed the 275 advisory committee meetings held from 1997 to 2006. In 1998 and 1999, almost half of approved NMEs were preceded by panel meetings; from 2000 to 2006, only 24% (35) of the 147 NMEs approved had a committee meeting first, according to Public Citizen, which put its conclusions in a letter published in the Dec. 23 issue of the Lancet. The group also found that the FDA did not present its scientific opinion as a counterbalance to the drug maker's presentation at 18%, or 49 of the 275 meetings. The FDA overruled the panel conclusions 28% of the time, “a figure higher than is generally assumed,” according to Public Citizen.