The Problem With IRBs

A new drug costs $2.6 billion to develop; the FDA has a budget of $3.3 billion. The scientists I'm speaking for in, from oversight to overkill, are lucky when they can cobble together a budget in the millions. Unlike Big Pharma with its standardized routines, they're trying new approaches that raise new regulatory questions. A system that makes their work more difficult means we, the public who struggle with disease and death in our daily lives, are the ones who suffer.