Final answer:
The prepackaging of medications must adhere to procedures set up by the FDA to ensure patient safety and drug efficacy. While consumers benefit from this regulation, anonymous losers include patients with delayed access to new treatments and those affected by the resultant higher drug costs.
Step-by-step explanation:
All prepackaging of medications must follow procedures established by government agencies, such as the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The FDA plays a crucial role in regulating medications to ensure their safety and efficacy before they can be released into the market. This regulation process involves rigorous testing, which can take several years, leading to a safer market for consumers, who are the winners in this scenario. However, there may be anonymous losers in the form of patients who suffer because they either cannot access potentially beneficial drugs that are still in the testing phase or incur higher costs due to the expensive and lengthy approval process.
The FDA not only oversees drug safety but also enforces laws to ensure the purity, effectiveness, and truthful labeling of food, drugs, and cosmetics, including the inspection of production and shipment of these products. Protocols for cleaning or sterilizing medical equipment are often developed by the FDA as well as organizations like the AOAC, which is a nonprofit scientific group that establishes protocols for global standard use. Manufacturers of medical devices and equipment then adopt these protocols, and ultimately, hospitals and their staff are responsible for following them to prevent patient harm due to improperly cleaned equipment.