The federal government has failed (so, what else is new?). A drug-mixing company has contributed to a deadly U.S. meningitis outbreak, and the problems are being partially blamed on a failure to require proof of individual patient prescriptions as required under state regulations.
The companies involved claim they intended to operate in compliance their state licenses where they do business. Now, they have been shut down pending state and federal inspections.
One of the distributors that works with these drug companies suspended operations. Regulators said that among other things they would be looking at any "corporate governance" issues related to the outbreak.
What has happened, over time, is that federal influence has weakened the willingness of the State agencies to properly enforce their regulations. In other words, I believe the State agencies have an "It's okay if we miss something because the federal government will serve as a safety net" attitude. The federal government, however, has a history of falling short under the weight of its bureaucracy. Constitutionally, the States are supposed to be the sole regulators in regards to medicines, and with various intensities of rules and enforcement, the companies will, to be safe, adjust to the strictest rules presented by one of the States. Under a federal umbrella, the strict local enforcement becomes watered down, and the red tape becomes nothing more than a flow of numbers.
Then again, personally, I am a supporter of more natural means of healing. For example, after steroids failed to resolve a tendinitis problem I was having with my elbow, natural oils massaged into my elbow daily wound up taking care of it. . . but that's just me.
I suppose you could say I don't trust pharmaceuticals, or federal regulations, so to be honest, this meningitis outbreak was not a complete surprise.
God provided us everything we need to be healthy. We just need to use them.
-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary
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