Isn’t it time we end the FDA?
Perhaps you’ve heard here recently about a breast cancer drug called “Avastin” being pulled from the market by the FDA (see link below). Now as a humble nursing assistant I can’t throw my two cents into this debate as to whether this drug is safe or not, because, frankly, I don’t know. But does that really even matter?
In a society where it has suddenly become “mainstream” to say that one believes in freedom and individual liberty, it continues to surprises me when people are so quick to throw away their new found principles for a presidential candidate who has instituted insurance mandates in their state; or think it not usual to have an agency of education (As though American’s are to inept; they must be shown how to educate themselves).
Is it any more bizarre that we should not be outraged when a government agency pronounces what we can and cannot eat? What we can and cannot use as medicine? Luckily (or maybe not so lucky) a bunch of cancer patients just woke up…
The problem with the FDA is 3 fold (as I see it).
1. Like most government agencies, the FDA does not have to be efficient. It’s just like the Post Office, or The Department of Education, or even the DMV. That’s right folks, the DMV is deciding what is and isn’t good for you to put into your body. Now that’s a scary thought…
So, you remember that potentially lifesaving AIDs drug you’ve been waiting for? Well, it’s going to be awhile before it gets onto the market. Because it has to pass all the FDA’s “safe” screening processes first. And sadly you only have on average 20 years max to live. But don’t worry; the FDA is a good thing; because Lord knows if a free market company was this inefficient, they’d be out of business by now! Ha ha ha ha! Ok… quit laughing, it’s not funny…
2. Because the FDA is responsible for deciding what you can and cannot eat and what can and cannot be used as medicine, it has a pretty important job to do, wouldn’t you agree? After all, what would happen if the FDA approved of… oh I don’t know, a new kind of anti-inflammatory non-steroidal pain killer; and you took it, thinking it was safe. I mean after all the FDA approved it, right? But to your benevolent government believing surprise, the FDA did not do such a good job after all making sure the drug was thoroughly safe, and you ended up having a stroke *cough* Google Vioxx *cough, cough*, excuse me.
Now think for a minute, what if a company (private sector) was in charge of testing drugs and giving those drugs the company’s stamp of approval, meaning they were safe to use; but then approved a drug that killed a bunch of people. What would happen? If you said that company would go out of business and wind up with a bunch of lawsuits, you are waking up. If you also said that the FDA can kill as many people as it wants and never ever go anywhere, then you are already awake young grasshopper.
3. Now what about Avastin? Here’s what the FDA’s website has to say about it :
“The addition of Avastin to various chemotherapies leads to an increase in incidence of serious adverse events from Avastin, as well as the serious side effects related to chemotherapy. Serious adverse events are toxicities that are severe or life-threatening, require medical intervention, hospitalization, or even result in death.”
Now let’s take those words I underlined and add them to my paragraph:
Cancers, that are severe or life-threatening, might require medical intervention, hospitalization, and sometimes result in death (.i.e. terminal cancers). People who choose to take various forms of chemotherapy to treat cancer can experience serious adverse events from the chemotherapy.
My point? Terminal illnesses are terminal, duh FDA!! If there is ever even a glimmer of hope that somebody with a terminal illness might be cured by taking an experimental drug or participating in an experimental procedure, why wouldn’t they do it?
By restricting and blocking the use of experimental drugs and or procedures to terminally ill people the FDA has potentially killed thousands, who were already going to die anyways! And thus I conclude my tirade against the FDA.
In sort, in our free society do we really need a government agency to tell us what we can and cannot eat, or what we can and cannot use as medicine? Are we adults, or do we really need this nanny state agency? In this time of economic hardship, do we really need our paychecks being deducted to pay for it? Wouldn’t a free market company do a better job, or just go out of business for lack of doing so?
Isn’t time we end the FDA?
Take action! Good luck!
-Joel Henske –
2nd District Coordinator
www.campaignforliberty.org
(541) 279-4202
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