Torpor is the wrong word. Full stop. The FDA isn't merely a lazy, indifferent regulatory body suffering some sleepy malaise. The FDA is actively beholden to

Torpor is the wrong word. Full stop. The FDA isn't merely a lazy, indifferent regulatory body suffering some sleepy malaise. The FDA is actively beholden to "special" interests and the decisions made by the FDA are a function of both these interests and its own mandate. Threading those needles is complex so processes at the FDA move slowly; it takes a lot coordination to safely and profitably answer to all the masters involved. "Safely," here, has nothing at all to do with medicine. The correct word is "corruption," but using the correct word would immediately alienate the entire professional class to which Seliger hopes to appeal. Seliger understands this and has employed a friendlier word, implying nothing more terrifying than innocent dysfunction. Such is the lot of one that seeks to discuss the consequences of corruption with those that cannot tolerate the impuning of anything Government, with the possible exception of the DOD.