What to do about disinformation?

This by Matthew Perrone of the AP has been showing up in a lot of places. He recounts the FDA ' s largely feckless battle against the sea of health-related bullshit that seems to have become an emblem of right-wing identity. He attributes the agency ' s credibility problem at least in part to some actual missteps, although he actually names only two -- approval of aducanumab for Alheimer ' s disease and what he asserts was a delayed response to the infant formula shortage. This I would say is a very weak causal attribution.I very much doubt that the people who are dosing themselves with horse dewormer are even aware of the controversy over aducanumab and it they are, the conservative complaint about the FDA is that it ' s too reluctant to approve medications. I don ' t know how much better the agency could have done responding to the infant formula problem, but that hardly bears on their credibility when it comes to the safety and effectiveness of medical treatments.  I have plenty of complaints about the FDA. They often approve medications with insufficient evidence, but require post-marketing studies and surveillance. Then they don ' t enforce those requirements, and even if post-marketing data shows the stuff is ineffective or dangerous, they are very reluctant to withdraw approval or restrict usage. The agency ' s powers are also limited. They can fine companies for off-label marketing, but they can ' t sanction physicians for off-label prescribing, and the resu...
Source: Stayin' Alive - Category: American Health Source Type: blogs