> I don't believe that screening drugs based on effectiveness is a proper role for any government agency...Better would be for the only role of the FDA in decis

> I don't believe that screening drugs based on effectiveness is a proper role for any government agency...Better would be for the only role of the FDA in decisions like this to be determining if the manufacturer is making fraudulent claims. I think you come in with wrong assumptions. The FDA has little to no authority when it comes to off-label uses — doctors have a lot of leeway to prescribe drugs for whatever non-approved use they judge to be effective. So the FDA's role already is intertwined with marketing. A doctor can today prescribe Viagra as a treatment to Alzheimers, but it would be illegal for Pfizer to market Viagra for treating Alzheimers until it gets FDA approval for that specific use.