Evidence-Based Legislation, Part I

Recently, the US FDA has been criticized extensively for failing to adhere to scientific principles.  However, one fact has gone unnoticed:  For all its failings, the FDA is the most scientifically-based part of our government, and the rest of the government could learn a lot from how they do things.  In this essay, I examine the differences between the approval process for new drugs, and the process for crafting new laws.  I demonstrate that the FDA uses the scientific method, to great advantage, whereas Congress uses a cumbersome, unscientific, and unnecessarily dangerous process to develop new legislation.  When I get around to it, I will post a Part II, describing a proposal for a new way to draft laws: evidence-based legislation.  Continue reading here.

Categories: politics, armchair musings
Tags: politics, scientific method, legislation, Congress, FDA