The New York Times Science section carries a review by Abigail Zuger M.D. of a book, The Death of Cancer, by Vincent T. DeVita Jr., an oncologist who is a former director of the National Cancer Institute, a former director of the Yale Cancer Center, and a former physician in chief at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. From the review:
The regulatory caution of the Food and Drug Administration has been a thorn in his side for decades: "I'd like to be able to say that as cancer drugs have become increasingly more complex and sophisticated, the F.D.A. has as well. But it has not." In fact, he writes, "the rate-limiting step in eradicating cancer today is not the science but the regulatory environment we work in."
(Emphasis added here.) Amazing, and newsworthy. Also amazing is that NPR's Terry Gross was able to conduct a long "Fresh Air" interview with him and not touch at all on the regulatory point.
