Formula for a Shortage • Hacker News Board

Re: Formula for a Shortage

#31

Post by bsder » Fri, May 20, 2022, 7:14 PM UTC

allturtles wrote: post #22

The author should maybe consider that there are some possible downsides to a totally free market in food and drug products, and in particular look at the historical events which led to the creation and empowering of the FDA. e.g. "The Sulfanilamide Disaster" [0], which killed 100 people because a company used antifreeze to create a liquid form of their drug (and it would have killed more if not for FDA efforts to tra…

How about we bust up any company holding more than 20% of the market share for baby formula? And then we bust up any company holding 20% of the inputs for that? Recurse until finished.

Then, when one company gets contaminated, we only lose a maximum of 20% of the market.

Maximally efficient is minimally robust.

Re: Formula for a Shortage

#32

Post by kazinator » Fri, May 20, 2022, 7:16 PM UTC

You know, there is also Japanese baby formula. Why has the discussion been restricted to European?

Re: Formula for a Shortage

#33

Post by ALittleLight » Fri, May 20, 2022, 7:53 PM UTC

nothingisbad wrote: post #27

MR4D wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

2 quotes from the article address that: "The FDA does not exist to get products on the market. It exists to keep products off the market. They have no idea how to get a product to market; that’s just not what they do." "So what they are doing, in an emergency, is allowing, out of the kindness of their hearts, for manufacturers to apply for the ability to temporarily import their products once the FDA explicitly appro…

I gave up on the article about a quarter way through when they trivialized that labels may be in Dutch or German and the intended water to formula ratios are 1:1 instead of 1:2. That would mean an infant getting one half the calories a parent thinks they are, which does not seem trivial to me.

They could just add a sticker with directions in English, including the formula ratio. The only babies that would suffer are those whose parents don't follow basic directions when preparing their food - and those babies are likely in for a rough time anyway.

It seems crazy to think that a different formula ratio is so important it should necessitate a shortage of vital baby formula.

Re: Formula for a Shortage

#34

Post by bkdbkd » Fri, May 20, 2022, 9:24 PM UTC

allturtles wrote: post #22

The author should maybe consider that there are some possible downsides to a totally free market in food and drug products, and in particular look at the historical events which led to the creation and empowering of the FDA. e.g. "The Sulfanilamide Disaster" [0], which killed 100 people because a company used antifreeze to create a liquid form of their drug (and it would have killed more if not for FDA efforts to tra…

Exactly. It's a reasoning error.

They equate "Ensuring any recalled products remains off market" with "keeping formula off the market".

As you said, there are many cases in which it is far wiser stop to ensure safety, than to move forward with risk.

Well said.