Is the US drug approval process corrupt? Many critics say that it is, leveling the charged rhetoric of corruption at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) (see, for example, here, here, and here). Yet there have been few, if any, credible allegations of illegal bribery or the exchange of quid pro quo benefits in relation to FDA drug approvals. Rather, when critics speak of “corruption” at the FDA, they are alluding to a perhaps all-too-cozy relationship between the FDA and the pharmaceutical companies it regulates. That is indeed a source of concern: Big business likely has too much sway in Washington, D.C. on a whole range of issues, and the FDA is not immune to the powerful influence of powerful lobbies like Big Pharma. Yet the casual deployment of the rhetoric of “corruption” in this context, though offering attractive click-bait, is both misleading and potentially counterproductive. Continue reading →