[extropy-chat] Professor Being Sued Over Anti-Aging Comments

[Samantha Atkins]

On Jun 20, 2005, at 1:38 PM, The Avantguardian wrote:

>
>
> --- Acy James Stapp <astapp at amazeent.com> wrote:
>
>
>> Why not? Are we really so stupid that we can't make
>> our
>> own medical decisions without the oversight of a
>> gigantic
>> governmental regulatory body? I'm not.
>>
>
> The FDA exists to protect the rubes. You don't need it
> but the rubes do.
>

It does not require a government body to accomplish this.

>
>
>
>>> isn'it FDA job to approve pharmaceuticals
>>>
>> specialties?
>>
>> Safety and efficacy tests could be done more cheaply
>> and
>> effectively by private industry. I imagine the UL
>> (Underwriter's Labs) and others would be more than
>> happy
>> to provide this service if it were not being
>> provided
>> under legal monopoly by government agencies.
>>
>
> More cheaply yes and very probably much more quickly
> as well but nowhere as near as completely nor as
> objectively.

This is an empty assertion.  The private UL would be relatively  
immune to politics and likely to be run much more efficiently.  As  
its sole stock in trade is its reputation I would expect it to be  
more thorough and dependable rather than less.

> Not there is no corruption in the FDA,
> but at least the mission statement of the FDA is not
> "find data to support the efficacy and safety of our
> client's product."
>

Why on earth do you believe that would be the mission statement of a  
private organization performing equivalent tasks?

- samantha