Counterfactuals are hard, but I wonder if anyone has studied whether or not the FDA is actually a net saver of lives. It seems to me that every time the FDA approves a new drug that will save X lives a year, it has necessarily cost X lives every year that the drug was delayed in the mandatory approval pipeline.
If FDA approval was optional (perhaps requiring a big "NOT FDA APPROVED" label), would the number of people who die from taking unapproved drugs (and who otherwise would have lived) be more than the number who die from being denied a drug (and who otherwise would have lived)?
As I write this, it reminds me a bit of the IP issue, and whether the patent system really is a net benefit or not.
If FDA approval was optional (perhaps requiring a big "NOT FDA APPROVED" label), would the number of people who die from taking unapproved drugs (and who otherwise would have lived) be more than the number who die from being denied a drug (and who otherwise would have lived)?
As I write this, it reminds me a bit of the IP issue, and whether the patent system really is a net benefit or not.