The irony of you saying I'm cherry picking, then doing it yourself looking for an out isn't lost on me. Given you picked the one area where the US started it's

The irony of you saying I'm cherry picking, then doing it yourself looking for an out isn't lost on me. Given you picked the one area where the US started it's agency as an actual consumer-safety oriented one (a rarity), and a centralized one, is a good topic to look at: "The FDA historically developed as a consumer protection agency, whereas the regulations from the European Commission arose out of a need to harmonize inter-state commercial interests while preserving national “autonomy.” Thus, whereas the FDA has the advantages of centralization and common rules, the European Union regulates medical drug and device approvals through a network of centralized and decentralized agencies throughout its member states." - https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2452302X16300638 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2452302X1... Congrats, you cherry picked the outlier. And I'd argue based on the fact that we actually allow endless Pharma advertising and doctor lobbying, and the EU generally forbids it, that we still come up short comparatively.