Hey, as far as I know, FDA officials are not required to recuse themselves if there is a conflict of interest. I hope the Supreme Court rules in favor of public interest.

Any changes would have to be accompanied by the reform of the drug approval system to make it less expensive to develop new drugs. Without endorsing the article, a quick google search brought up an article that shows alarming trends in drug development costs. These costs seem aimed at keeping out new players.

I find it insightful that a cosmetic industry organization (the PCPC, whose members include P&G, Avon, Pfizer, and virtually all other major players) asked Congress to regulate cosmetics. The only reason for that would be to protect the current big players from competition by the cottage industry, such as soap makers, etc.

(Disclaimer: I've worked in the medical device industry, which is regulated by the FDA.)

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IANAL
Linguist and Open Source Developer

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