

The failure of the FDA - nbj914
http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2012/01/the-failure-of-the-fda-why-were-still-using-antibiotics-on-livestock/251442/

======
bmj
It strikes me that the FDA is powerless in the face of the corporate lobby.
While allowing CAFOs (among others) to "police themselves," the FDA
aggressively pursues raw milk producers and farm-to-table organizations
[<http://farmtoconsumer.org/quail-hollow-farm-dinner.htm>] because no one with
deep pockets is protecting these folks politically.

~~~
rdtsc
> It strikes me that the FDA is powerless

Because of stuff like this:

<http://www.cptech.org/ip/health/politics/revolvingdoor.html> why would you
expect anything else? Not sure what the solution is but there is definitely a
problem. It is not just the FDA. Most regulatory agencies have this problem in
our country.

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tptacek
Submission from an account that submits only stories from The Atlantic:

<http://news.ycombinator.com/submitted?id=nbj914>

I like the Atlantic --- a lot --- but look at the titles of those stories, and
look at this story, and ask whether these submissions are in the spirit of the
site guidelines.

I flagged the post. I wouldn't have if this was really a comprehensive
critique of the FDA, but it's not; it's just a position piece about factory
farming.

~~~
DanielBMarkham
One of the things I'd like to know is how The Atlantic ended up with so much
HN coverage. I like it from time to time, but not a day passes without an
article from there on here, many times multiple articles, and that's kind of
weird.

~~~
tptacek
One obvious explanation: there are accounts that do nothing but submit
Atlantic stories to HN.

Another one, more saddening: the Atlantic has in the past 2 years crafted an
online presence that basically competes tit-for-tat with Slate, meaning a lot
of clipped little blog posts (often from guest writers) and fewer long-form
narrative journalism pieces.

Also, Graham has more or less let go of the "what's on-topic for HN" site
guideline.

------
reasonattlm
Reading material on the FDA in general:

"There is no open marketplace for medical technology in the developed world,
however. Instead, we see a very different set of incentives dominating the
state of research and development. Regulatory bodies like the FDA have every
incentive to stop the release of new medicine: the government employees
involved suffer far more from bad press for an approved medical technology
than they do from the largely unexamined consequences of heavy regulation.
These consequences go far beyond the obvious and announced disapproval of
specific medical technologies: the far greater cost lies in all the research,
innovation and development that was never undertaken because regulatory
burdens ensure there would be no profit for the developer. Personal gain for
the regulator is thus to destroy the gains of people they will never meet, the
exact opposite of what occurs in an open marketplace."

<http://www.fdareview.org>

[http://www.fightaging.org/archives/2011/11/an-unusually-
clea...](http://www.fightaging.org/archives/2011/11/an-unusually-clear-
example-of-the-cost-of-the-fda.php)

[http://www.fightaging.org/archives/2011/12/when-you-make-
med...](http://www.fightaging.org/archives/2011/12/when-you-make-medical-
progress-illegal-what-results-is-a-black-market-in-medical-progress.php)

[http://www.fightaging.org/archives/2010/03/the-roadblock-
tha...](http://www.fightaging.org/archives/2010/03/the-roadblock-that-is-the-
fda.php)

[http://www.fightaging.org/archives/2008/05/envisaging-a-
worl...](http://www.fightaging.org/archives/2008/05/envisaging-a-world-
without-the-fda.php)

[https://www.opencures.org/content/open-cures-speed-
clinical-...](https://www.opencures.org/content/open-cures-speed-clinical-
development-longevity-science)

~~~
roc
It seems fairly disingenuous to point out the misaligned incentives of
regulators without mentioning the misaligned incentives of industry.

The FDA was created in response to the state of industry absent regulation. It
is not an ideal construct, but arguments against its very existence don't pass
the smell test.

Also not passing the smell test? The idea that a regulator trying to protect
his government paycheck and reputation has more power than billion dollar
industries. Not in the United States. Not when our regulatory agency's recent
histories read the way they do. It's laughable to cast the FDA as an
impassable obstacle.

------
casca
Who doesn't like cheap meat? Externalities FTW.

