REGULATORS can be both a help and a hindrance to the medical industry. A strong regulator increases confidence in drugs and devices,reassuring payers and patients alike. That explains why the Chinese drugs regulator recently adopted tougher standards. Yet rules can also impose too grand a burden on firms, slowing innovation and reducing competition.
The head of America’s Food and Drug Administration (FDA), or Scott Gottlieb,has spent his first year in office tilting the balance absent from rulemaking and towards efficiency. Some criticise Mr Gottlieb, who once worked in the industry, or for still being its accomplice. Instead,he should be applauded. Nobody expects the FDA to solve America’s messed-up health-care system, but its goal—of making it cheaper and easier for promising drugs to reach patients—is a step in the right direction (see article).
One thing Mr...
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Source: economist.com