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The Critical Middle's avatar

It is time to defund the FDA, CDC, NIH and others.

Conflicts of interest have run amok.

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shoehornhands's avatar

I don't work for the FDA, but I do work for another government regulatory agency. I don't feel up to the task of describing the level of dysfunction taking hold in Federal civil service, but I'll attempt to summarize one aspect of it. Things are growing progressively worse as staff loses the distinction between being a political appointee who advances the message of the current administration-any administration-and being civil service, charged with impartially executing the law. What matters now is pleasing the right people, always saying yes, and doing what you're told-even if it's wrong. I imagine that the regulations governing FDA approvals are actually fairly decent, but the idea of someone internal insisting that an agency just follow the regulations is becoming radical. The government is slipping into regulation by feelings. And it probably feels pretty good to the agency higher-ups to approve all these money making drugs and devices.

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