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There's no reason to be this snarky. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_and_Drug_Administration#History https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_and_Drug_Administrat

There's no reason to be this snarky. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_and_Drug_Administration#History https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_and_Drug_Administration#H... I took you up on it regardless, and it doesn't have much to do with snake oil salesmen according to the Wikipedia article. Either way, nobody is arguing for the abolition of the FDA. The paternalistic attitude and restrictions are what the parent commenters have an issue with.

ok_dad 5y ago
Did you read it? Literally the FDA was created in response to snake oil remedies killing and injuring people. > By the 1930s, muckraking journalists, consumer protection organizations, and federal regulators began mounting a campaign for stronger regulatory authority by publicizing a list of injurious products that had been ruled permissible under the 1906 law, including radioactive beverages, the mascara Lash lure which caused blindness, and worthless "cures" for diabetes and tuberculosis. The resulting proposed law was unable to get through the Congress of the United States for five years, but was rapidly enacted into law following the public outcry over the 1937 Elixir Sulfanilamide tragedy, in which over 100 people died after using a drug formulated with a toxic, untested solvent. > President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act into law on June 24, 1938.
- ahmedalsudani 5y ago
  Yes I did. That quote does not necessarily mean those cures were fraudulent--it could be pure incompetence. But again, the issue is not deciding what's safe and what's effective. It's finding that something is effective and then telling citizens they can't use effective treatments (or even tests) arbitrarily. I'm glad the FDA is testing the safety and effectiveness of tests and cures. That doesn't mean the grandparent commenter who wants to monitor their blood glucose levels should be dismissed.
- roenxi 5y ago
  Bit of a difference between that and glucose monitoring machines though. I don't think anyone is comparing taking a glucose reading to ingesting radioactive beverages. I'm sure that someone could injure themselves really badly with a glucose monitor, but the risk profile probably isn't that different from the wide range of garden implements we let people run around with (like ladders or hedge clippers).

ok_dad 5y ago

Did you read it? Literally the FDA was created in response to snake oil remedies killing and injuring people. > By the 1930s, muckraking journalists, consumer protection organizations, and federal regulators began mounting a campaign for stronger regulatory authority by publicizing a list of injurious products that had been ruled permissible under the 1906 law, including radioactive beverages, the mascara Lash lure which caused blindness, and worthless "cures" for diabetes and tuberculosis. The resulting proposed law was unable to get through the Congress of the United States for five years, but was rapidly enacted into law following the public outcry over the 1937 Elixir Sulfanilamide tragedy, in which over 100 people died after using a drug formulated with a toxic, untested solvent. > President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act into law on June 24, 1938.

ahmedalsudani 5y ago
Yes I did. That quote does not necessarily mean those cures were fraudulent--it could be pure incompetence. But again, the issue is not deciding what's safe and what's effective. It's finding that something is effective and then telling citizens they can't use effective treatments (or even tests) arbitrarily. I'm glad the FDA is testing the safety and effectiveness of tests and cures. That doesn't mean the grandparent commenter who wants to monitor their blood glucose levels should be dismissed.
roenxi 5y ago
Bit of a difference between that and glucose monitoring machines though. I don't think anyone is comparing taking a glucose reading to ingesting radioactive beverages. I'm sure that someone could injure themselves really badly with a glucose monitor, but the risk profile probably isn't that different from the wide range of garden implements we let people run around with (like ladders or hedge clippers).