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

[Mike Lorrey]

--- The Avantguardian <avantguardian2020 at yahoo.com> wrote:

> 
> 
> --- Mike Lorrey <mlorrey at yahoo.com> wrote:
> 
> 
> > 
> > Actually, private industry consumer protection would
> > be better than the
> > FDA. Underwriters Laboratories, Consumer Reports,
> > Insurance Institute,
> > and Electrical Testing Laboratories all do their own
> > testing of
> > manufacturers products, to their own standards.
> 
> Actually you might be on to something here Mike. I was
> worried that big pharma would have too much influence
> on a private underwriting lab. But if it were actually
> funded by insurance companies instead of big pharma,
> there would be a strong finacial incetive to make sure
> that drugs were safe before getting their stamp of
> approval. Kind of like the way they do the Insurance
> Institute for Highway Safety. Something like that I
> would go for. 

Thanks. It really doesn't matter who pays. UL and ETL both charge
manufacturers to have their products tested (I've been through the
process myself) and they really don't tolerate companies trying to
bully them, because they know that their brand is most valuable the
more stringent they are.

John Stossel has reported on this effect as well in his media
experience, where his employers find that advertising time during his
shows are worth more, so the network makes more money, the more Stossel
is critical of frauds, scams, and ineffective products.

The FDA, because it is the 'brand' people see, makes for a weak market
quality because the FDA isn't the one actually doing the testing. Labs
that the consumer is unaware of because of this fronting thus do not
have a market incentive to protect their brand against negative public
perception by producing shoddy science that cow tows to the drug makers
desired results.

Mike Lorrey
Vice-Chair, 2nd District, Libertarian Party of NH
"Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom.
It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves."
                                      -William Pitt (1759-1806) 
Blog: http://intlib.blogspot.com

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