Victory Over the FDA

I heartily approve of this:

In a stunning decision the DC Circuit Court of Appeals ruled yesterday that dying patients have a due process right to access drugs once they have been through FDA approved safety trials. The FDA's refusal to allow firms to sell and patients to buy these drugs "impinges upon an individual liberty deeply rooted in our Nation's history and tradition of [respecting the right of] self-preservation."

The Food and Drug Administration is not authorized by the Constitution. I don't think the FDA is likely to wither up and die anytime soon, but it's valuable to publicize situations like this so that the public wakes up to the idea that the FDA can harm people. That the FDA prevents (potential) treatments from being available to people is an example of the "unseen" harms of government.

I look forward to the day when doctors and patients assert that they are capable of making their own decisions about drugs, and that they have the right to do so without the meddling of the FDA.

Two questions should make the matter clear: (1) Why should government, instead of a private group or groups, investigate drug safety? (2) Why should it be a crime to act against its recommendations?