Let the agency continue to review safety and efficacy, but allow unapproved drugs, clearly labelled as such, to be available by prescription. They could choose to rely upon FDA or foreign approval, private endorsement, industry recommendations, or whatever. And health-care providers could vary their decision based on the seriousness of the disease or condition being treated. Normal malpractice and product liability laws would apply. Making pharmaceutical purchases a private decision would not be a jump into the unknown.
Paternalism remains a powerful influence in Washington.
But so much more could have been accomplished, and the U.S. government continues to put arbitrary roadblocks in the way of developing, testing, and marketing new drugs and devices.