Progressive Reforms Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Progressive Reforms - Essay Example Some were simple superstitions, while others have resulted in more severe outcomes. Ancient medicine, for instance, was normally a mishmash of science, religion, and pagan. People suffering from the bubonic plague were instructed to atone or seek forgiveness for their transgressions (Christensen 2004). Apparently, this failed to get rid of the plague. Another case in point is the medieval doctors who assumed that majority of human maladies were the outcome of excessive volume of body fluid; hence, to ‘medicate’ the ill they practiced ‘venesection’, or the process of removing glut body fluid by extracting substantial amounts of blood from the body (Christensen 2004). But unfortunately, to no avail. In the contemporary period, these kinds of assumptions and beliefs continue to influence the field of medicine, especially, at this point, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The FDA has the instruments and legally sanctioned power to control the overall effect iveness and safety of drugs. The intricacies of reforming the drug approval procedure of the FDA are underlined by conflicts between private manufacturers of drugs and the FDA about the objectives and rationales that should dominate in carrying out the review procedure (Dohrman 2005).