I came across this article describing how the FDA is holding up a vaccine that’s being used in other countries. This the best concise explanation I have seen to describe the truth that the FDA drug oversight is a net negative to American’s health. From the article:
“In March, when the coronavirus arrived in the US in earnest, governments around the country locked down economies to prevent the spread of a virus that to date has claimed the lives of nearly 400,000 Americans. While these actions were being taken, a vaccine had already been developed. The mRNA-1273, a lipid nanoparticle–encapsulated mRNA-based vaccine, was made in a single weekend in January, two days after Chinese researchers published the coronavirus’ genetic code.
Developing the vaccine was the easy part, it turns out. Testing the vaccine and navigating it through the federal bureaucracy was the real challenge. Not until March 16, more than two months after the vaccine was developed, were the first trial participants vaccinated. And these trials were followed by more later-stage clinicals.
There was another option that would have made the vaccine available much sooner: challenge trials, a process that would have involved deliberately infecting healthy volunteers with SARS-CoV-2 to accelerate vaccine development. Reports show at least 25,000 people volunteered to do just that.
The FDA rejected this course.“
It’s definitely worth reading the analysis in its entirety. You can read the article here.