Letter from Washington

The saccharin flap continues here unabated, in the process adding a new dimension to the debate over federal regulation in general and the role of the Food and Drug Administration in particular. On one side (to simplify it all) stand members of the federal health establishment, the Naderites, and their allies in the press. On the other stands much of the unmobilized general public and certain of its representatives in Congress.

For the past several years, the first side has had it all its own way, charging the health-care industry with over-manufacturing dangerous food additives and over-prescribing unnecessary drugs. The FDA, stung by charges of ineptitude and collusion with industry, has responded by rapidly slapping bans on such menaces as Red Dye #2 just as soon as the obligatory tests have been run.

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The saccharin flap continues here unabated, in the process adding a new dimension to the debate over federal regulation in general and the role of the Food and Drug Administration in particular. On one side (to simplify it all) stand members of the federal health establishment, the Naderites, and their allies in the press. On the other stands much of the unmobilized general public and certain of its representatives in Congress.

For the past several years, the first side has had it all its own way, charging the health-care industry with over-manufacturing dangerous food additives and over-prescribing unnecessary drugs. The FDA, stung by charges of ineptitude and collusion with industry, has responded by rapidly slapping bans on such menaces as Red Dye #2 just as soon as the obligatory tests have been run.