Freedom of Exchange in Marketing versus Protection for Drug Consumers

For many years critics in the popular press have periodically suggested that the FDA is overly aternalistic and inflexible and that the American public is ill-sewed g y the FDA's reluctance to make decisions. As a result, they claim, Americans are being denied drugs that are available to Europeans and the FDA is fostering a medical monopoly by restricting most drugs to rescri tion status. A , comparison was made of the pertinent laws o ! Cana c! a, Great Britain, Germany, and Third World, developing countries to see if there is a trend developing toward enactment of consumer protection legislation for drug roducts and the extent to which consumers are allowed or denied the freedom to purchase different categories of drugs.