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Contrasting histories of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration

An article by Kerry Howley on the Reason Online website presents a fascinating history of the U.S. FDA which documents the way in which the original intent of Congress in setting up this agency was subverted and perverted by the bureaucrats who have run the agency.¹ Howley points out that prior to 1938 most drugs were available without prescription. Many people preferred to consult with physicians before buying drugs, but the choice was theirs. In 1937 a careless drug company caused the death of 107 people, and Congress responded by giving the FDA powers to regulate labelling so as to better inform consumers about the drugs they buy. Instead, the FDA instituted regulations that deliberately made labels difficult for laymen to understand so that they would be forced to consult doctors to find out what the drugs were for. This and other actions of the FDA eventually led to the present situation where the consumer has no rights of access at all to most drugs unless a physician is paid for ‘permission’ to buy them.

It’s a fascinating article that ought to be read by anyone who wonders whether the current drug-regulation system is killing more people than it is saving.

Another closely-related article that gives even more details about the FDA’s gradual invasion and destruction of personal liberty in the U.S. is found on the FDA Review website.²

As one might expect, both of these articles emphasize some of the negative aspects of the FDA’s rise to power, and don’t have much to say about the undeniable benefits which FDA regulation has had in many aspects of the world of pharmaceuticals.

In contrast to these views of FDA history is the one presented on the FDA’s own website.³ The events mentioned are similar to those mentioned in the other histories, of course. But the FDA version has nothing to say about the erosion of personal freedom that has accompanied the FDA’s ever-increasing legal powers. Many medical disasters, big and small, are mentioned in support of the FDA’s need for more power, but nothing is said about the countless untimely deaths that have resulted from the FDA’s glacial slowness in approving new drugs. And no mention is made of the skyrocketing costs of new drugs, or the choking off of the flow of new drugs from the laboratory to market, both of which are largely the result of the FDA’s bureaucratic obstruction of the drug development process.

References

[1] Locking Up Life-Saving Drugs: Prescription Laws Make Us Sicker and Poorer Reason Online

[2] History of Federal Regulation: 1902-Present FDAReview.org website

[3] FDA History FDA website