X-Message-Number: 492.6
From: Saul Kent
Subject: Rocky Mountain News commentary on FDA

	       Rocky Mountain News
	       Thur. Oct. 3, 1991
	       Jay Ambrose Editor

Too big a club for the FDA

The Issue: Bill in Congress would augment FDA powers
Our View: If passed, agency would enjoy police-state powers of enforcement

President Bush reportedly resents the charge that his administration is
"re-regulating" the economy.  That's no surprise: He was point man for the
Reagan administration's deregulation efforts, which were an essential
component (the S&L fiasco aside) of the economic boom of the 1980's.

What is surprising about the charge is this: It's true.  There are countless
examples to be found in the ever-expanding Federal Register of regulations.

If the president truly wants to overcome his administration's re-regulation
image, he should examine a bill snaking its way through the House of
Representatives.  And then he should stop this legislative monstrosity dead
in its tracks.

The bill, concocted by Democrat Henry Waxman of California, is called the
Food, Drug, Cosmetic and Devices Enforcement Amendments of 1991.  If enacted,
it will make the Food and Drug Administration one of the most powerful
enforcement agencies in the world.  FDA bureaucrats will hold unprecedented
sway over industries that together account for 25% of gross national product:
food, pharmaceuticals, medical devices and cosmetics.

Some of the powers granted by the proposed legislation are denied even to the
Drug Enforcement Agency.  FDA personnel could enter warehouses, laboratories,
even grocery stores, to conduct searches and seizures, using hidden electronic
surveillance equipment -- without warrants!  FDA could likewise order recalls
on products within its vast jurisdiction without holding hearings or granting
right of appeal.

Any FDA officer, working on as little as a hunch, could order a 20-day
embargo of a product he deems unfit.  Personnel would also be granted
sweeping new subpoena powers.  Technical violations of obscure FDA
regulations - for example, failure to include the manufacturer's zip code
on a product label - could bring civil fines as high as $1 million.

Civil libertarians have rightly been wary of the excesses of the war on
drugs; we have warned of the dangers of exploiting forfeiture laws, for
example.  But at least the scourge of drugs exists.  These new powers are
being undertaken against industries whose high standards, in many cases,
are envied around the world.  The bill is a draconian solution to a problem
that doesn't exist.  It's a power grab by bureaucrats, and it should be
stopped.

Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=492.6