Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has a prescription for fixing what he calls the “corrupt” system at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration — blow it up.
As far as the controversial gadfly is concerned, employees should “pack their bags” thanks, in part, to long-standing pharmaceutical industry influence that has undermined the agency. And he is threatening an overhaul that has alarmed drug companies, Wall Street, and public health advocates.
They have good reason to be concerned. Among other things, Kennedy gives the impression that he will wage war on vaccines, which can save lives. And he seems poised to redo the system for approving medicines and other products, a system that has earned the FDA a reputation as the gold standard among regulators and created a degree of predictability for investors.
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