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February 3, 2012
Edmund Sanders : Israeli official says Iran is creating missile that could reach East Coast of US
Victoria Kim: Immigrant-smuggling ring used black drivers to avoid racial profiling
February 2, 2012
Jim Carney: Wrong number call may have saved her life
Reza Kahlili : Ex-CIA spy in Iran's Revolutionary Guard: What Obama doesn't grasp about striking deals with Tehran
Tina Susman: For woodchuck rescuer, every day is Groundhog Day
February 1, 2012
Brian Bennett: US officials see increasing threat of domestic attack from Iran
Emily Brandon: How to Take Advantage of New 401(k) Fee Disclosures
January 31, 2012
January 30, 2012
Paul Richter and Ramin Mostaghim: Misreading Teheran's limits -- deadly and economically devastating as they may be -- is a risk administration, Europe seem willing to take
Suzanne Bohan: Warning: Nap-deprived tots missing more than sleep, study finds
Meg Handley: Banks Revamping Rewards Programs to Woo Customers
January 27, 2012
Caroline B. Glick: Obama: Of course I intend to prevent a nuclear holocaust . . . in a few months
Yochonon Donn: In liberal New York City, fervently-Orthodox Jews may soon be getting a district to call their own
Jeannine Stein: An inflated ego and thinking you're 'all that' doesn't just make others sick of you, it can make you ill
Katy Hopkins: New budget rules may affect how much money you get for college
January 26, 2012
Ed Koch: To the New York Times, calling for the murder of Jews by those capable of having their incitement taken seriously isn't news
Jeannine Stein: Mental illness struck one in five U.S. adults in 2010: Report
January 25, 2012
Richard Simon: House passes two bills endorsing the use of religious symbols at military memorials
Fred Weir: Putin: Multiethnic Russia cannot survive as a US-style 'melting pot'; must find its own way
Susan Johnston: 5 Sneaky Coupon Strategies Consumers Should Watch Out For
January 24, 2012
Carol Clark: The price of your soul: How your brain decides whether to 'sell out'
Caroline B. Glick: America lost most in 'Arab Spring'. Sadly, many voters still don't grasp the extent
Warren Richey: Drug criminal scores win in GPS ruling from conservative-leaning high court
Erika Bolstad: Black conservatives gather to talk about gaining strength
January 23, 2012
Melissa Dribben: Jewish voters to play a key role in Florida's Republican primary
Jordan Rau: In quest to grow, Catholic hospital system will announce this morning its break from church
Ali Safi: U.S. envoy gives Taliban terms for peace talks
January 19, 2012
January 18, 2012
January 17, 2012
Frank J. Gaffney Jr.: No-kidding red lines: U.S. response to an Iranian nuke may be bluster, but Israel's won't be
David G. Savage: They sued their principals after slandering them online --- now the cases are headed to the Supreme Court
David Francis: Where to Invest in 2012: With stocks expected to rebound, opportunity abounds for investors
January 13, 2012
Ben Lynfield: Israeli lawmakers move to annex Jewish Judea, one museum at a time
Alexia Elejalde-Ruiz: Thriving through touch: Gentle massage helps older people with low mobility improve in mind and body
January 12, 2012
Warren Richey: Landmark Supreme Court ruling a 'resounding win' for religious groups
Warren Richey: Supreme Court says no to new rule on eyewitness testimony
John Fauber : Statins found to raise diabetes risk in postmenopausal women
Katy Hopkins : Consider This Before You Pay for an Online Degree
The Kosher Gourmet by Joseph Erdos: This mushroom and barley soup has an intense -- almost nutty -- flavor that mixes robust with Middle East. It has creaminess without cream
January 11, 2012
Shari Roan: Millions of atrial fibrillation sufferers at risk for devastating, but preventable, stroke
Tom Hussain: Pakistan -- recipient of more than $21 billion in civilian and military aid -- speeds pursuit of Iranian pipeline, defying US
David G. Savage: High court signals it won't be loosening TV's 'indecency' rules
Stephen Ceasar: Oklahoma's Islamic law amendment can't go into effect, court rules
January 10, 2012
Reza Kahlili: From an ex-CIA spy: US must exploit new split in Iran's Revolutionary Guard
Karen Kaplan: Study: Nicotine replacement products ineffective when used in real-life situations
January 9, 2012
Michael Doyle: Put through legal hell over dream home, couple fought back hard --- all the way to Supreme Court
January 6, 2012
January 5, 2012
Tom A. Peter: Taliban talks: In administration's push to negotiate with terrorists, was a key hurdle overlooked?
Pete Spotts: Time cloaking: How scientists opened a hidden gap in time
Karen Kaplan: Teens aren't too old to boost their IQ, study finds
January 4, 2012
Scott Baldauf: Islamist terror group giving Christians living in north Nigeria days to flee
Howard LaFranchi : An accelerating covert war with Iran: Could it spiral into military action?
January 3, 2012
Tom A. Peter: Release several Taliban leaders from Guantanamo Bay; give them headquarters as confidence-building measure?
Elaine Woo: Thomas T. Johnson, L.A. judge who ruled that Holocaust was a fact, dies at 88
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Jewish World Review
June 8, 2005
/ 1 Sivan, 5765
Dismantle the FDA?
By
John Stossel
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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
Last week, I wrote about a federal agency that most people think
is indispensable. In reality, I said, the FDA regulates us to death,
literally, by forbidding even dying Americans who can't be helped by
established medical treatments from trying innovative therapies.
But what's the alternative? Have no oversight? Let any company
peddle every dubious medicine to an unsuspecting public? That sounds
terrifying. Snake-oil sellers would sell all kinds of harmful stuff. That's
why we created the FDA in the first place.
But wait a second. Snake oil sellers sell it anyway. I've done
consumer reports on snake-oil sellers for years. Crooks and deluded
optimists sell useless baldness remedies, breast enlargers and diet products
while the FDA is supposedly in charge. The FDA rarely stopped even the
obvious crooks. What it mostly stopped, or delayed, were the serious drug
companies' attempts at genuine innovations.
Without an FDA, how would doctors and patients know which drugs
were safe and effective?
The same way we know which computers and restaurants are good
through newspapers, magazines and word of mouth. In a free, open society,
competition gets the information out, and that protects consumers better
than government command and control.
Why must we give big government so much power? Couldn't FDA
scrutiny be voluntary and advisory? Companies that want government blessing
would go through the whole process and, after 10 or 15 years, get the FDA's
seal of approval. Those of us who are cautious would take only FDA-approved
drugs.
But if you had a terminal illness, you could try something that
might save your life. You could try it without having to wait 15 years
without having to break your country's laws to import it illegally from
Europe without sneaking into Mexico to experiment in some dubious clinic.
If I'm dying, shouldn't my government allow me the right to try whatever I
want?
If FDA scrutiny were voluntary, the government agency would soon
have competition. Private groups like Consumer Reports and Underwriters
Laboratories (UL) might step in to compete with the FDA. The UL symbol is
already on thousands of products. No government force was required. Yet even
though UL certification is voluntary, its safety standards are so commonly
accepted that most stores won't carry products without the UL symbol.
With such competition, the FDA might devise a ratings system
("general use," "medical guidance suggested," "patients strongly cautioned,"
or something like that), and drug packages would carry that information.
We'd know that the government was evaluating new drugs, but government
wouldn't stand between lifesaving treatments and us. Most of us, most of the
time, would take the government's advice, but because it would be our
choice, we could try new or risky drugs when nothing government-approved was
available.
We could try a system where the FDA would review all drugs, but
its approval wouldn't be needed for a drug to be sold. Private organizations
might go into competition with the FDA even if its review remained
mandatory. If a new drug is going to be "not yet rated" by the government
for 15 years, the endorsement of an independent evaluator even one not
quite as strict as the FDA that can deliver its opinion in three years
would be valuable. Under today's FDA rule, consumers assume big government
takes care of the whole issue, so we become less vigilant. The consumer is
encouraged to stay asleep: Don't ask questions; just take what Big Brother
approves. Yet, knowing what we know about the incompetence of government
monopolies, there's little doubt that competing private groups would do the
testing better, cheaper and quicker.
Any kind of FDA has its price. If all drugs have to be
reviewed even if they can be sold while under review the cost in money
and energy will keep some drugs off the market. But getting rid of the FDA's
power to forbid us to try something would be a big improvement: It would
mean Americans would no longer be forced to wait, and die while their
government passes judgment on innovations that could save them.
Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.
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Stossel explains how ambitious bureaucrats, intellectually lazy reporters, and greedy lawyers make your life worse even as they claim to protect your interests. Taking on such sacred cows as the FDA, the War on Drugs, and scaremongering environmental activists -- and backing up his trademark irreverence with careful reasoning and research -- he shows how the problems that government tries and fails to fix can be solved better by the extraordinary power of the free market. Sales help fund JWR.
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