Maybe China has the right idea?
Posted by Bret WeaverMay 30th, 2007
Yes. I said it.
And yes, it felt pretty weird.
Like the United States, China is undergoing a food and drug safety crisis.
Last year 11 people died from taking the sub-standard antibiotic Xinfu.
In 2005, 13 babies died of starvation from being fed powdered milk with no nutritional value.
US inspectors believe the recent rash of pet deaths in North America stem from pet food ingredients exported from China which were contaminated with melamine.
And it looks like the Chinese are a little pissed…
Zheng Xiaoyu, the former head of China’s FDA, was sentenced to death yesterday for accepting around $800,000 dollars in bribes in exchange for approving unsafe drugs.
The verdict was announced in conjunction with China’s plan for a first ever recall system for dangerous food and drugs.
On this side of the Pacific… Henry Waxman (D-CA), Chairman on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, plans to bring in FDA Commissioner Andrew von Eschenbach to testify as to why the FDA failed to warn Americans of the extreme cardiovascular danger and risk of death associated with GlaxoSmithKline’s diabetes drug Avandia.
The drug company’s own research indicates that thousands of people died taking Avandia last year, and that the FDA was fully aware of the drug’s risks and chose to ignore them.
My (rather obvious) question is thus: If FDA officials knew that execution was on the table… do you think they would be more concerned with the safety of the American people? or the extension and continuation of huge profits for pharmaceutical companies?
Maybe we should just start offing these guys.
May 30th, 2007 at 10:09 am
I concur. Ive said it before, we need more dead politicians in this country.
May 30th, 2007 at 10:50 am
What’s really needed is a delicate balance of incentives and disincentives for regulators. To take your example literally, if execution were on the table, no new medications would ever be approved! Ever!!!