[lbo-talk] Re: Lanier v Merck: masterful lawyering

[andie nachgeborenen]

Don't see any disagreement between you, Miles, on the
old hand, Beian and me on the other. I said that that
FDA process was too demanding and slow and that the
testing regime should be more in line with European
and Candadian standards; the object should be to
screen out obvious frauds and failures, and for the
rest, to allow a lot more drug availability a l;ot
quicker, but require clear, large print, ordinary
lamnguage warnings from both the drug companies and
the health car providers, with severe liability for
failure to warn and punitive damages for lies and
coverups. Brian agreed, didn't you, B? as I took it,
saying that ACT Up wanted people to be able to design
their own treatment regimes with medical consultation
and clear knowledge of potential risks. No one here is
advocating abolsihing the FDA and returning to the
days of snake oil and patent medicines.

--- Miles Jackson <cqmv at pdx.edu> wrote:


> 
> 
> On Tue, 23 Aug 2005, BklynMagus wrote:
> 
> > That was part of what ACT UP fought for.  Drug
> decisions
> > should be in the hands of the patients, not the
> bureaucrats.
> > All the long-term suvivors/non-progressors I know
> are
> > people who took control of their lives and their
> drug regimens,
> > instead of meekly following the state's prescribed
> path of
> > death.
> 
> It's a bit more complicated than that: patients
> can't know
> what drug regimens are helpful or dangerous until
> those
> pesky scientists actually do research and that pesky
> FDA
> assesses that research in a rigorous way.  Granted,
> the
> pharma influence is troubling, but overall far more
> lives
> have been saved by the existence of the FDA
> bureaucracy
> than have been lost.  --Consider: if people really
> "took control" of their own drug regimens, many of
> them
> would be swayed by anecdotal evidence, charismatic
> charlatans, placebo effects, etc., and they would
> expose
> themselves to ineffective drugs or drugs that
> actually
> endanger their health.
> 
> Miles
> 
> ___________________________________
>
http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/mailman/listinfo/lbo-talk
> 

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam?  Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around 
http://mail.yahoo.com