Sidney Wolfe, MD, died of a brain tumor on January 1, 2024, at the age of 86. Dr. Wolfe was a leader in research-based advocacy, with a passion for holding pharmaceutical companies accountable, protecting workers’ health and safety, addressing physician misconduct, challenging the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and removing dangerous drugs and devices from the market.
In 1971, Dr. Wolfe founded the Health Research Group, an offshoot of Public Citizen, alongside attorney and political activist Ralph Nader. The group is dedicated to research-based, systemic changes in health care policies and drug safety.
During his time heading the Health Research Group from 1971 to 2013, Dr. Wolfe had more than a dozen drugs taken off the market and got warning labels issued for countless others. Even after stepping down as head of the group, Dr. Wolfe continued to work with Public Citizen.
Dr. Wolfe’s efforts in research-based advocacy were centered around performing academic-level, independent analyses of safety and efficacy information for drugs and medical devices. Other focuses included anonymously surveying and interviewing people in the industry and using litigation based on scientific evidence to his advantage.
Among Dr. Wolfe’s many memorable contributions are the multiple editions of Worst Pills, Best Pills he published, which offer information about side effects and drug interactions for specific medications, and his monthly column for the Health Research Group’s health letter, “Outrage of the Month.”
“As we remember him, we know this: Sid saved the lives of tens and tens of thousands of people, almost none of whom will know the debt they owe to Sid,” wrote Robert Weissman, president of Public Citizen, in an obituary. “There’s just no way to know about the drug that might have killed you but didn’t because it was pulled from the market or never approved — due to Sid’s work. Very few of the millions of people who benefited from safety warnings that Sid and his colleagues forced onto drugs will know why they were able to avoid serious health problems.”
