Two Cheers for Full FDA Approval of the Pfizer ‐​BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine

Michael F. CannonThe right to make one ’s medical decisions isa fundamental human right. Taking health care rights seriously means recognizing that consumers have a right to choose which medical products they use and that government has no right to stand in their way.From the moment Ugur Sahin and his colleaguesdeveloped the Pfizer ‐​BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine in January 2020, they and consumers have had the right to sell and buy it, so long as both parties agreed to the transaction. When government interferes with that right to voluntary exchange, it interferes with the rights of patients to make their own medical decision s. This fundamental human right to voluntary exchange is all the more important when it involves life‐​or‐​death medical decisions.From mid ‐​January 2020 until December 2020, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration violated the rights of the manufacturers and consumers to buy and sell the life‐​saving Pfizer‐​BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. The FDA only stopped violating those rights when itgranted the vaccine an emergency use authorization on December 11, 2020. Under the terms of that authorization, however, the FDA would again begin to violate those rights once the federal government declares this public ‐​health emergency has ended.Today ’s announcement that the FDA has granted full approval to the Pfizer‐​BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine is welcome news—but not because government should be in the business of reviewing ...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - Category: American Health Authors: Source Type: blogs