Sam Kazman

Letter to the Editor: Funny How the WashPost Doesn't Find Late Cherry Blossoms a Front-Page Eco-Fright
By Tim Graham | April 26, 2014 | 12:33 PM EDT

In his April 11 Washington Post column, “Thought police on patrol,” columnist Charles Krauthammer slammed the group "Forecast the Facts" for gathering signatures to ban "deniers" from the editorial pages: “the left is entering a new phase of ideological agitation — no longer trying to win the debate but stopping debate altogether, banishing from public discourse any and all opposition. The proper word for that attitude is totalitarian.”

On Saturday, the Post published a long letter from their campaign director Brant Olson that doubled down on the censorious swagger: Krauthammer's column was "not only unreasonable but also built on misinformation that should have no place in a space intended to further an informed debate." At least the Post also published a Sam Kazman letter from the right noticing how the Post had a funny way of avoiding a front-page article noticing that the traditional D.C. cherry blossoms bloomed late...although it was a front-page story in 2012 when they were early:

FDA: A Killer Agency
By Walter E. Williams | February 9, 2011 | 6:00 PM EST

Sam Kazman's "Drug Approvals and Deadly Delays" article in the Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons (Winter 2010), tells a story about how the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's policies have led to the deaths of tens of thousands of Americans. Let's look at how it happens.

During the FDA's drug approval process, it confronts the possibility of two errors. If the FDA approves a drug that turns out to have unanticipated, dangerous side effects, people will suffer. Similarly, if the FDA denies or delays the marketing of a perfectly safe and beneficial drug, people will also suffer. Both errors cause medical harm.

Kazman argues that from a political point of view, there's a huge difference between the errors. People who are injured by incorrectly approved drugs will know that they are victims of FDA mistakes. Their suffering makes headlines. FDA officials face unfavorable publicity and perhaps congressional hearings.