What chain of events led to “free” Americans having less in the way of health choices under some circumstances than “unfree” socialist Europe? In Europe, silicone implants are not only available but much more popular than their saline counterparts, because patients and physicians both believe they look and feel more natural. So how did our health choices get usurped by a petty, arbitrary government body? What chain of events led to “free” Americans having less in the way of health choices under some circumstances than “unfree” socialist Europe? FULL ARTICLE
Source link: http://archive.mises.org/3540/playing-god-at-the-fda/
Playing God at the FDA
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Very interesting article indeed. Harsh critique, but well placed IMHO. I’m puzzled by the inconsistency of the two votes myself, but with large corporations, big money, and influential lobbyists, one can only wonder what goes on behind the scenes. Thanks for shedding light on these issues.
Dale’s piece today is a classic, one of many that he has written over the years. It reminds me of a speech given by the CEO of State Farm Insurance I heard at the AACSB annual meetings a couple of weeks ago, in which he praised Eliot Spitzer — yes, that Eliot Spitzer, to whom I simply refer as “Mr. Evil.” While the CEO was talking about stuff like “integrity” and the like, it really was a Public Choice/Austrian moment, in which we heard a CEO praising Mr. Evil for imposing costs upon companies that were rivals to State Farm.
The central issue here is that given human nature and the intractible nature of humans when given powers of governing, we see the same conflicts occur over and over again. The ties between regulators and industries are exposed as corrupt, and we also see bureaucrats like David Kessler building empires.
We should not forget the role of our vaunted “free press” in this whole affair. Journalists love regulators because regulators feed them stories. I dealt with much of this in my doctoral dissertation and in an upcoming paper for American Journal of Economics and Sociology.
In other words, what we have here is an entire Symphony of Evil with whoever sits in the White House, along with Congress and the courts, serving as guest conductors.
As an alternative to letting the FDA decide for us, we could simply let people make their own decisions –
The current debate about importation (or reimportation) is a case in point. The FDA has been consistent in its claim that reimporting drugs from Canada (or other countries) jeopardizes the safety of the drug supply for the whole country. While we might be able to trust that the Canadian drugs are safe, when the Canadian pharmacies are unable to obtain sufficient supply from manufacturers, they will turn to other sources.
See http://www.bizreport.com/news/6876/
This has not stopped individuals from purchasing the drugs, however. I would venture to say that an informed consumer would consider costs and benefits of the choice and decide whether to purchase domestically (from our allegedly safe system) or import. While the number of importers is still fairly small – due in part to the system of third party payment – as copayments increase and “consumer-directed health care” becomes more common, individuals will be more likely to consider sources of supply outside this country. And if the price differential is great enough, some people will choose to take the risk, or whatever they perceive to be the risk, of purchasing outside the FDA system.
As an aside, I have recently taken Bextra (now off the market) for inflammation associated with surgery. It was bunion surgery on the left foot(I had the right foot done 14 years ago). The difference between the two experiences was amazing. All prescription medications have side effects for some people, some very dangerous. I wouldn’t have removed these products from the market. The knowledge that long-term use is associated with heart attacks is enough to change use patterns substantially. After publication of research indicating that hormone replacement therapy had serious risks, use of products in that category dropped nearly 25% within five months.
The FDA will soon intrude into the supplements and nutrients market under the guise of the CODEX initiative. Several years ago, the late Dr Robert Atkins (and several other doctors) took heart patients off expensive prescription drugs, then put them on a regimen of low-costing nutrients, minerals, vitamins and supplements.
Up to now, even private people could do their own research using books and the internet, to discover what nutrients were best for them. Very soon (and courtesy of the FDA), the higher doses of vitamin supplements and minerals that are now easily available, will only be availabe by prescription . . . and at greatly elevated prices.
Harry Valentine
If members of our society were empowered to make their own decisions…then the whole rationale for the [FDA] would cease to exist—David Kessler [25]
It’s a vicious circle isn’t it? I mean people like Kessler, organizations and agencies like the AMA, the FDA, indeed a prevailing tenor in our society is to fear the autonomous person; is to squash him or her or regulate them out of existence, so that over time, as we are born and grow up in that mileu that serves to try and keep us ignorant and infantile and people like Kessler and doctors in control of us, the idea of looking up with frightened and worshipful eyes to the “experts” and “protectors” and to seeing ourselves as woefully inadequate to manage the compleities and uncertainties of our lives without the enforced oversight of the likes of kessler becomes second nature.
When I told an acquaintance of mine, a nurse, that I parted ways with a kind and well intentioned doctor because we had contrary views of the doctor-patient relationship, I saw it as one between equals and he saw it as one beween child/layperson and father/expert, she was sincere when she said”But he is the expert.”
I think Europe has always been more open-minded than “free” America… Just an opinion.
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