[jsbg]

> The FDA, like other regulatory agencies, exists for a reason: to help prevent people from being ripped off, or worse, by snake oil salesmen.

This is obviously false given the existing supplements business. The idea that we have a way to prevent people from being ripped off is naive. But even so, the "reason" for the FDA doesn't change its incentive structure: allowing a drug that kills a few people will reflect badly on it, while disallowing a drug that would have saved millions of lives likely would have little consequence for the decision makers.

[otterley]

The carve out for supplements was created by Congress in 1994 during the Clinton administration, long after FDA was established, so I don’t think it is a false statement.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dietary_Supplement_Health_and_...

[Turing_Machine]

IMO, the FDA's authority should be limited to making sure that the snake oil does indeed contain genuine oil from genuine snakes.

They could put a label on it to the effect of "We don't think this stuff works, and it might even be harmful", but they should not be allowed to ban it outright.

The current situation is one-sided:

FDA approves something harmful -> people are harmed and their friends and family start calling for the FDA's heads.

FDA doesn't approve something helpful -> people are also harmed, but most of them don't even know they were harmed. There's little chance of an angry mob showing up at the FDA's door.

The FDA is biased in favor of rejection, not approval.