A
key goal of government officials is to avoid blame. Government testers have
kept some drugs off the market for years to avoid blame for approving a drug
that later proves unsafe. More lives have been lost from the delays than have
been saved by ensuring drug safety.
Some
patients face death if they don’t receive an experimental drug soon. Nope, say
the feds. Can’t have it. The drug might not be safe.
Common
sense is not a bureaucrat’s best quality. To avoid blame, they’d rather not exercise
judgment.
Testing
should be done by private testing companies. Companies would be sued if the
drugs are unsafe, of course, but testing is likely to be better when it’s not
done by government. Delays and deaths would be reduced.
Since
government has no profits and no competition and doesn’t fire incompetent
workers, it’s the most expensive way of doing anything.
The
Congress should limit the penalties for drugs that later prove unsafe and lose
lawsuits. Perfection is too expensive and causes drugs to be held off the
market for too long, resulting in unnecessary deaths.
In
addition to safety, the government also tests whether a drug works better than
the competition. But government doesn’t test other products for efficacy. Why
drugs? Those judgments should be made by doctors and patients, not testers.
Getting
government out of drug testing would save lives and cut costs. Nice
combination.
