Our job is to set risk tolerance levels. We have to operate in the face of uncertainty. Science cannot always give categorical answers, and sometimes, as in the case of measles vaccinations, for example, the good of the many may entail risk for a few. The difficult decisions facing departmental scientists will only increase as the first wave of biotechnology products becomes available. Health Canada critics argue that this shift in approach is the result of severe downsizing and loss of expertise, rather than a necessary modernization.
Safety becomes just another trade-off.
Nymark sighs when he hears comments like that. There's no doubt that risk management is very polarizing. The public want zero risk. We have a big education job to do. One way to restore public credibility, the department's senior officials say, is to allow public anxieties to be aired.