Final answer:
The Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act of 1938 required drug manufacturers to prove their products' safety, marking a shift from the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906, which only required listing ingredients. The FDA's stringent testing can delay drug availability, potentially disadvantaging patients waiting for treatment. Similarly, safety monitoring exists for cosmetics, but lacks consistent standards.
Step-by-step explanation:
The Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act of 1938 was a significant piece of legislation requiring drug companies to conduct studies proving that their drugs were safe. This was a substantial change from earlier laws, such as the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906, which mainly required drug makers to list ingredients without mandating safety testing. The earlier act arose from an urgent need to address the public health dangers posed by adulterated foods and dangerous patent medicines, some of which contained addictive substances like morphine and opium.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) now plays a crucial role in regulating medications to guarantee their safety and efficacy, which includes lengthy testing before a drug can be marketed. While these regulations protect consumers from unsafe drugs, there are implicit drawbacks, or 'losers', in this system. These losers might include patients who lack access to potentially beneficial drugs that are delayed in reaching the market because of the stringent testing procedures required by the FDA. Furthermore, the costs associated with such extensive testing may hinder the development of new drugs, especially by smaller companies with limited resources.
The matter of safety testing for cosmetics also falls under the FDA's purview. Although the cosmetic industry is largely responsible for the safety of its products, the FDA may intervene when necessary. Products untested by the FDA are required to carry a warning label. Conversely, the efficacy of cosmetic ingredients is monitored by experts, and while some ingredients have been restricted, there is no standardized or systemic methodology for reviewing chemicals for safety.