Alex Tabarrok makes a simple point in Aspirin and the FDA:
If aspirin were invented today it might not be approved by the FDA. Keep this in mind when thinking about Vioxx, Bextra and other pain-relief drugs that have recently been taken off the market. This is not to say that the new pharmaceuticals are ‘safe,’ but rather that all pharmaceuticals involve tradeoffs.
I remember my dad saying that if glass were invented today, it would never get approved as a building material.