You are both right. The fact is...this is not a perfect world. The FDA and Congress are run by people. People have the vulnerability of being bought and influenced/pressured by others, ie., lobbyists, wealthy donors, schemers, etc. Most of the time, those in a position to influence have an agenda, and most agendas are not altruistic in nature. Thus, they are flawed. While the FDA are regulators in charge of maintaining the food and drug laws and protecting citizens, it is not uncommon for bias and temptation to interfere with their stated objective. The same holds true for Congress/politicians, if not much more so. To think that is not the case, is naive and unrealistic. Keep in mind that the pharmaceutical industry contributes handsomely to the FDA payroll (and also to Congress!), and the executives/scientists that the FDA deal with are more along the lines of peers than they are adversaries (ditto with politicians). Food for thought...
