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The Collapse of the FDA

nytimes.com

21–30 of 220 posts

Re: The Collapse of the FDA

#21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

yeah, because unless you legitimately have heavy metal poisoning, the side effects DEFINITELY aren't worth it

Probably, but the process doesn't work that way. The default is that you can't sell medication to people, period. Some pharmaceutical company applied to have a specific form of EDTA approved as a prescription drug, and that was that. Separately from this, substances that meet the criteria of being "natural" can be sold as supplements as long as you don't claim they cure anything. EDTA is naturally-occurring and you c…

So in summary, the FDA prevents you from marketing something as a medicine unless you have gone through the approval process and developed all the regulatory apparatus around a medicine (e.g. packaging, suppliers, prescription guidelines, etc)?

Re: The Collapse of the FDA

#24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unfortunately I feel like we are just seeing the snap of these government agencies. They have been bending for a while. It will feel like 6 months but we have been on the path for a while and not one administration has decided to bite the bullet and turn course.

I was just saying this today. I’m originally from the DC bubble. It’s been bad for a LONG time. Entire companies designed to fight and win government contracts so that they can milk the government until retirement. SAIC comes to mind. These agencies haven’t been able to do their actual jobs in ages. Trump is doing what he said he was going to do (unpopular as that is) and we’ll have to figure out how to build back be…

While seeing opportunity in a crisis is a good coping mechanism, that doesn't mean it's a good idea to destroy first and rebuild from scratch. (It is however one of the core unjustified beliefs of free market fundamentalists.)

It actually seems to be true more generally, good coping mechanisms are not particularly efficient in the absence of crisis. Another example: People who lived through a dictatorship, which destroyed social trust and capital, learned to cope by distrusting state authorities. That's a coping mechanism that doesn't work well in the absence of dictate, a system that is open to democratic self-governance. You need people who are willing to apply more bold strategies to effectively run a democratic state.

Re: The Collapse of the FDA

#25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Probably, but the process doesn't work that way. The default is that you can't sell medication to people, period. Some pharmaceutical company applied to have a specific form of EDTA approved as a prescription drug, and that was that. Separately from this, substances that meet the criteria of being "natural" can be sold as supplements as long as you don't claim they cure anything. EDTA is naturally-occurring and you c…

So in summary, the FDA prevents you from marketing something as a medicine unless you have gone through the approval process and developed all the regulatory apparatus around a medicine (e.g. packaging, suppliers, prescription guidelines, etc)?

Yes. Look, I'm not arguing this is bad, I'm just trying to respond to the original question and capture the essence of the debate.

There are three pertinent points: (1) it's EDTA; (2) it's not that EDTA is safe or not safe, it's that no one applied to have it approved as an OTC medication; (3) you can still (probably) sell EDTA as a supplement in the US, but the FDA grumbled about it, which angered various chelation cranks.

Re: The Collapse of the FDA

#28
post #3

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Before the wreckage this administration has created consumes us, that is. Like when our next round of influenza is especially bad but we've destroyed so much public health infrastructure that the US is the last to respond to the crisis, and the state authorities have to turn elsewhere for help -- to WHO or even to China -- to bail us out.

Re: The Collapse of the FDA

#29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s easy to hand out money when you are not the one paying, and have no consequences for success or failure. Feeling justified and righteous is the icing on the cake

[flagged]

Government agencies that spend massive amounts of tax dollars while accomplishing nothing and being net-negative for society. Anyone who has worked for or dealt with the government for extended periods of time will clearly know how fucked it is

Re: The Collapse of the FDA

#30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unfortunately I feel like we are just seeing the snap of these government agencies. They have been bending for a while. It will feel like 6 months but we have been on the path for a while and not one administration has decided to bite the bullet and turn course.

I was just saying this today. I’m originally from the DC bubble. It’s been bad for a LONG time. Entire companies designed to fight and win government contracts so that they can milk the government until retirement. SAIC comes to mind. These agencies haven’t been able to do their actual jobs in ages. Trump is doing what he said he was going to do (unpopular as that is) and we’ll have to figure out how to build back be…

Sorry, this SAIC? https://www.saic.com/ Just curious which SAIC you are referring to.
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