The Corporate Assault on the Food and Drug Administration

Abstract

Current “regulatory reform” in the U.S. Congress is seeking to eliminate the Food and Drug Administration. The author discusses the forces behind this reform and traces the impact of campaign contributions from various industries opposed to FDA regulations, stock held by members of Congress in companies regulated by the FDA, and a variety of organizations with ties to House Speaker Newt Gingrich that have received donations from industries that Gingrich has helped in their efforts to loosen FDA regulations. The article also examines the myth that the FDA is an overzealous watchdog imposing unnecessary burdens on the companies that it regulates. The controversy over the cow hormone rBGH is given as an example.