The FDA vs. The Suffering

[Firegirl]

H_K, the vaccines are not much of a problem, except in parts of Africa where the vaccines syringes are reused and hepatitis and HIV are spread. The real problem that the FDA is involved in is the abuse/overuse of Antibiotics for viruses (it doesn't work on Colds), preventative measures ( kills off beneficial bacteria), and getting off the antibiotics too soon, allowing the Antibiotic resistant bacteria to proliferate.
The FDA is pretty impotent legally as their hands are tied by special interests supporting those in the FDA and those in Congress. Some of the special interests are Drug manufactorers like Phizer and some are in the Meat/dairy industry where many animals are given antibiotics and other drugs as a preventative measure and then the products are later eaten. Which is problematic for Consumers as they don't know what's in their food. Also the drugs used are not approved for humans and diseases can become resistant easily.

[Sibyl]

I think the classic example of the FDA testing might be thalidomide.

Back when I was a kid, there was this new drug in Europe that was something of a tranquilizer, and was wonderful for morning sickness in pregnancy. (That might not sound very life-threatening to you, but one of my daughter's classmates, a relatively thin girl to start with, nearly starved, and her baby with her, because she couldn't keep anything down. She had to be admitted to the hospital and fed intravenously, which is not the best nutrition for pregnancy either, but much better than nothing--they did both make it). Anyway, under great and continuing pressure, the head of the FDA (female, at that time), delayed and delayed and delayed approving it, for more testing. Europe and England were using it widely. Europe and England wound up with thousands of babies born without arms and/or legs. A very few Americans who had obtained the drug in Europe did too. Abortion wasn't legal here then, and there weren't sonograms to see how the baby was doing--x-rays were _it_, and of course they can damage the baby themselves. One famous television childrens-show hostess flew back to Europe for an abortion because she'd taken the drug --examination of the fetus did prove that the child was damaged.
America was spared this plague because of FDA delays. Turned out that the initial testing of the drug had not been done on _pregnant_ animals, even though the morning sickness application was the one most widely used.