Shut Down The FDA

Posted: 9/25/2014  Updated: 10/11/2014

Trigger

Just read “Citizen Hackers Tinker With Medical Devices Diabetes Patients, Family Members Try to Make Glucose Monitors More Useful”.

I intend not to delve into the details of  this long article for lack of time. However, here is a critical quote: “Continuous glucose monitors ... are Class III medical devices, meaning they get the highest level of regulatory scrutiny, and even new support software must clear a battery of approvals.” This is a huge impediment to progress.

Here is another, similar article “What the FDA Won’t Let Your Doctor Know Can Kill You”.

One Of The Awful Legacies Of Theodore Roosevelt

The passing of the Pure Food And Drug Act of 1906 was the big stick. Probably, this law was and still is completely unconstitutional despite U.S. Supreme Court complicity. It was a tremendous power grab by the federal government. It is a statist, nanny state, paternalistic big government approach, one size fits all. Federalism was harshly trampled again.

Many people have died because of the FDA due to excessive caution and bureaucratic delay. Patients are treated as dumb. Their freedoms to choose for themselves, which treatments they prefer are severely curtailed.  

For this alone, Theodore Roosevelt’s face should probably be removed from Mount Rushmore or replaced by James Madison’s face.

Urgent Reform

1. Phase out the FDA as fast as is possible
2. Devolve FDA authorities back to the states
3. Establish finally comprehensive patient choice of treatment
4. Establish reciprocity so that medications approved in one state are legal in any other state. This would be possibly a justifiable interpretation of the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution
5. Promote private forms of quality control etc. The current, almost exclusive reliance on the federal government is a vestige of the Soviet era