I spent two months at Public Citizen in 2006 working with Sid. Contrary to this somewhat “objective” article, he’s one of the kindest men I’ve ever met who’s fighting an extremely worthwhile battle against what’s often times, snake oil.
Remember…if you survive childhood, the average life expectancy has only increased an average of six years in the past 100 years. I can guarantee this isn’t from all these trillions we’ve spent on the pharmaceutical industry in the past 100 years.
And now, the best drugs, damn near 100% of the time, are the cheapest.
Sid and I wrote two petitions to the FDA:
- We successfully petitioned to place a black box warning on fluoroquinolones due to increased risk of spontaneous tendon rupture
- To ban third generation oral contraceptives given their doubled risk of venous thrombosis
I’m very excited to see Sid take this role. I think we need him in the FDA. I just hope he doesn’t give up too easily due to all their shenanigans…
A Wolfe in Regulator’s Clothing: Drug Industry Critic Joins the FDA – WSJ.com