Tyler Cowen raises an important question — the answer requires a careful risk-benefit analysis of the “effective” clause:
305 Economists Called to Smart Questionnaire on the FDA:
Daniel Klein, Jason Briggeman, and Kevin Rollins have designed a questionnaire about the economic rationale for the policy that makes new drugs and devices banned until individually permitted by the FDA. Klein and Briggeman present the questionnaire and the list of economists. Will anyone provide a sensible market-failure rationale for the policy?
The link is here, take a look. I believe Congress should eliminate the “effective” part of the “safe and effective” clause, dating from 1962. If the question is allowing people to experiment with all pharmaceutical products, I see a few possible arguments (I’m not necessarily endorsing them) against doing that:
(…snipped Tyler’s questions…) Still, I think there is a good case for greater freedom for choice when it comes to pharmaceuticals.
Please continue reading Tyler Cowen.
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