hifsa shaukat

ECP4530 / ECP5536

Sherron

Paper #3

The Food and Drug Administration

In class, we will discuss the articles, “Is the Food and Drug Administration Safe and Effective?” from The Journal of Economic Perspectives as well as “Deaf or Death” from The Wall Street Journal. Be sure you read these articles before writing your paper. The FDA regulates medical products. Drug manufacturers must prove a drug’s safety and efficacy to the FDA before the agency allows a drug to be sold within the U.S. Should the FDA regulate access to drugs? Should the FDA require manufacturers to prove safety and efficacy before a drug is sold? If so, do you believe their current methods are the best? Should certain citizens be permitted to take drugs that have not been approved by the FDA? If so, who? Be very careful in your explanation; be sure that it is possible to identify those permitted to circumvent the FDA regulations. Should individuals be required to obtain a doctor’s permission to consume some types of drugs (prescription drugs) but not others? Do you agree with the way the FDA assigns the labels of “prescription” and “over-the counter”?

Professor Howard Baetjer at Townson University in Baltimore, Maryland asked some students about the FDA. Watch the students’ responses in this You Tube Clip. Not surprisingly, many students were in favor of allowing the “terminally ill” to take non-FDA approved drugs. However they were against letting individuals labeled “sick” from taking those drugs. What is the distinction between “terminally ill” and “sick”? Are the children discussed in “Deaf or Death” considered terminally ill? Does this revelation influence your answers at all?