Topic: International Law : Government Regulation of Business.
Please read the below carefully and state whether you agree or disagree with the argument for and against FDA agency's role in the regulation of business and support the stated agreement or disagreement. You MUST provide atleast one credible source. Credible source is required. Please provide references or citation being used
The FDA is concerned with regulating the standards of food and dietary supplements so that they are safe for consumption. Since these regulations vary so much and the amount of products that fall under the FDA's jurisdiction, this agency has a large budget from Congress. As we learned in the textbook, Congress is the branch of government that empowers the federal agencies, so in addition to the FDA's budget, Congress also defines its scope. The agency duties of the FDA include deciding which drugs may enter the American market (control of supply), setting the prices for those drugs (control of rates), and establishing standards for food and drugs in the American market (control of conduct). The role of the FDA is to regulate food, drugs, cosmetics, and vitamin supplements as well as the import of these goods into the United States.
I chose to research the FDA as the governmental agency for this discussion post because when I was in college, I had a summer job at Eli Lilly (a pharmaceutical company). As part of my job as a summer intern, I had to go through the lab and make sure we'd be compliant during an audit of the FDA. A group from the FDA would come to the lab and do an audit every year. When I was a summer intern, I found the audit preparation to be pretty tedious and so I was annoyed by the FDA, but now that I buy food, medications, and supplements for myself, I definitely appreciate the agency a lot more. Because of the FDA, I can be assured that the labels on the food I buy is accurate. I can also be sure that advertisements and promotions for food and medications can't exaggerate. Another role of the FDA that is reassuring to me is their "postmarket safety surveillance." This means that just because a drug/food was approved by the FDA, the company is still subject to review after the drug/food goes to the market.
One argument against the role of the FDA is that it can create a lot of red tape and slow the release of life-saving drugs to market. Because of the regulations of the FDA, it takes a very long time for a new drug to finally be approved for human consumption. Also because of this, pharmaceutical companies need more and more employees and overhead, which they can use as an excuse to keep charging more and more. For me, though, it's hard to argue against an agency trying to make sure that almost every single thing that people in the United states are putting in/on their bodies is safe.