Two articles–“Cancer Regression” and “Cancer Drug Fails, So Maker Tries New Pitch”–tell a familiar story. Life-saving is delayed due to FDA’s iron hand in judging drug effectiveness. The underlying issue here is clarity as to what freedom means to Americans.
FDA monopoly on drug access denies freedom of choice to existing patients. FDA asserts that its incredibly extensive clinical trial process is necessary to ensure future patients benefit from approved drugs and expresses regret that avoidable suffering and deaths inflicted upon existing patients is a necessary cost.
Who agreed to that? How many members of Congress want to explain that a member of your family must be denied access to a potentially life-saving drug in order to presumably serve the common good?
I believe FDA fears competition from patients and their doctors being free to choose between FDA-approved drugs and late-stage experimental drugs. Consumer choice would almost certainly result in hard empirical evidence demonstrating the need for radical innovation to streamline FDA’s clinical trial process.([email protected]) is an independent researcher in Naperville, Illinois and a policy advisor for The Heartland Institute. His Web site is http://www.learningwhatworks.com.
Bart Madden
