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by csomar 2273 days ago
> People and their doctors are the MOST concerned with their lives

That's exactly what makes them the most vulnerable. They are, in extreme conditions, desperate for a medicine and they'll lose sense because of that.

1 comments

Don't make the mistake of conflating concern for one's life with a desperation to avoid losing it. Safety concern is our own in-built countermeasure to desperate irrationally.

The fallacy that patients cannot act rationally in the face of adversity is a common excuse for compulsory regulatory bodies. While there is value in having a centralized body like the FDA provide consumers with qualified advice on drugs and food, a certification authority can provide that information for individuals to use at their own prerogative.