Skip to content

Oh FDA, How Pathetic You Are

2010 April 9

The FDA is again attempting to rectify some of its past ineptitude. This time Triclosan – a ubiquitous antibacterial chemical suspected of encouraging development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and inhibiting the human endocrine system – is getting a fresh look. (Thank you, Rep. Edward Markey of Massachusetts!)

The following paragraph from a Washington Post article on the FDA’s latest moves concerning triclosan reveals exactly what is wrong with the way our federal agencies regulate our food and consumer products:

Because it is found in so many different types of products, triclosan is regulated by three different federal agencies: the FDA, the EPA and the Consumer Product Safety Commission. But the FDA, which oversees its use in personal-care products, medical devices and products that come into contact with food, has been working for 38 years to establish the rules for the use of triclosan but has not completed that task.

Thirty-eight years!! Who else gets to work on a project for 38 years and then say, “Sorry, boss, I just didn’t have enough time to finish this up.” Geez. Way to fail, guys.

Creative Commons License
The Oh FDA, How Pathetic You Are by MushBrain, unless otherwise expressly stated, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. Terms and conditions beyond the scope of this license may be available at mushbrain.net.
One Response Post a comment
  1. Angus permalink
    April 9, 2010

    I’ve been working on myself for 34 years and still haven’t finished. Maybe I should apply at the FDA.

Leave a Reply

Note: You may use basic HTML in your comments. Your email address will not be published.

Subscribe to this comment feed via RSS