Direct-to-consumer drug ads scrutiny

It regulates 20 percent of the U.S. economy, and its commissioner has an aggressive agenda — faster drug approvals, healthier food, cures for diabetes and cancer. How much can he deliver? (Part two of “The Freakonomics Radio Guide to Getting Better.”)

• SOURCES:
  • Marty Makary, commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration.

• RESOURCES:
  • "Clinical Trials Affected by Research Grant Terminations at the National Institutes of Health," by Vishal Patel, Michael Liu, and Anupam Jena (JAMA Internal Medicine, 2025).
  • "What the evidence tells us about Tylenol, leucovorin, and autism," by Matthew Herper (STAT, 2025).
  • "I Run the F.D.A. Pharma Ads Are Hurting Americans." by Marty Makary (New York Times, 2025).
  • Blind Spots: When Medicine Gets It Wrong, and What It Means for Our Health, by Marty Makary (2024).

• EXTRAS:
  • "Are You Really Allergic to Penicillin?" by Freakonomics Radio (2025).
  • "How to Fix the Hot Mess of U.S. Healthcare," by Freakonomics Radio (2021).
  • "Bad Medicine, Part 3: Death by Diagnosis," by Freakonomics Radio (2016).

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