 Hey guys, I know it's a weird time right now a lot of us have been stuck at home for a bit some voluntarily some not And you can't check social media or turn on a TV without seeing something about a horrifying global pandemic Whether you think quarantines and closures are an overreaction or not I think everyone of every political persuasion can agree on at least one thing Our government has not handled this COVID-19 thing very well for weeks Doctors in the US weren't allowed to test patients for the virus at all Then the only tests available were from the CDC that took a week to get results and many of those tests turned out to be faulty Not only did FDA regulations prohibit private labs in the US from developing their own tests They barred unapproved tests that were already successfully in use in other countries from being imported The first major outbreak in Washington was discovered only after a Seattle lab decided to ignore the regulations and run their own tests In defiance of the FDA Fortunately, the government did eventually drop their prohibition on private labs developing their own tests Which are much faster and you know work But there were still a number of regulations imposed by the FDA and other agencies that stood in the way of rapid progress in fighting the disease Like prohibiting at-home testing and restricting companies like Tesla Ford and GM from producing and selling ventilators Even though they'd offered to do so these problems have come as a surprise to a lot of people in the US But they really shouldn't the FDA has a long history of slowing the progress of innovation in health care And since you're probably stuck at home instead of rewatching outbreak or contagion for the 13th time I'd like to direct your attention to a much better movie on Netflix that actually addresses some of the underlying problems Our country is facing right now Dallas Buyers Club stick around for this short edition of out of frame Dallas Buyers Club was released in 2013 and tells the mostly true story of Ron Woodruff played by Matthew McConaughey If you haven't seen it go ahead and do that Then come back to this video because I'm going to be spoiling some key plot points Feel free to subscribe and hit that bell icon while we wait in 1985 Ron Woodruff was diagnosed not just with HIV, but full-blown AIDS at the time HIV and AIDS were not well understood by the American public Most people considered it a gay disease and didn't think it was a problem even worthy of serious attention Thanks to a deadly combination of ignorance anti-gay sentiment and the novelty of the disease itself drugs that could treat HIV Were barely available anywhere AIDS was spreading rapidly with nothing to stop it or help those who got it When Ron got the news his prognosis wasn't good He had just 30 days left to live But there was a sliver of hope Researchers at the National Cancer Institute had just proposed a breakthrough treatment for HIV using the anti-retroviral drug as a Dethymidine or AZT Unfortunately in 1985 AZT was just starting FDA required human trials and while we all know that rigorous testing is super important What most people don't realize is that the nature of the FDA process takes a really really long time and for most medical R&D companies navigating the bureaucracy can cost over a billion dollars per drug So even fast-tracked it would still take over two years for the AZT trials to be completed and only then could it Have been submitted for approval in the US Who knows how much longer that would take Ron's doctors only recommendation is to go to a support group for other AIDS patients Condemned to die screw the FDA I'm gonna deal a The first act of Dallas Buyer's Club is really hard to watch Reeling from his diagnosis and being rejected by his former rodeo cowboy friends Ron had nothing left But to hustle He makes a deal with an orderly at the hospital to steal AZT from the trial once that gets cut off He goes to an unlicensed doctor in Mexico after a couple months of fairly successful treatment He and the doctor set up a deal to smuggle unapproved drugs into the US and sell them to other desperate HIV patients This eventually leads to creating the Buyer's Club in Dallas Ron isn't actually selling the drugs and supplements He's selling a club membership and club members just happen to get access to these treatments as a perk Unfortunately for Ron and his club members He keeps bumping up against the FDA and their enlisted help the DEA and the IRS Ron is fined his medicine is confiscated. He's threatened with arrest Ron attempts to fight back filing a restraining order against the FDA That doesn't work. He sues the agency for denying him his right to treatment That fails too, even though the judge agrees that the FDA's behavior is morally reprehensible Ron just wanted to survive and believe that all people have a right to try risky treatments when the alternative is certain death We see this play out over and over in real life people with conditions and diseases like HIV Cancer autoimmune disorders and more suffer needlessly because the FDA won't approve drugs that have been used in other countries for years People who use medical marijuana and psychedelics to treat physical and psychological problems Understand the obstacles the FDA and other government agencies put in the way of drug research and approval In spite of the fact that the federal government actually holds patents on a lot of those treatments It even affects people who just want to drink the milk They want to drink right now places like New York City are seeing firsthand how FDA restrictions that prevent companies from Urgently importing and producing much-needed medical supplies like ventilators masks and other protective gear can cause really serious problems And it doesn't stop with the FDA We've all talked a lot lately about overloaded hospitals and our limited capacity to treat COVID-19 patients But what most people don't know is that the government and the American Medical Association Limits the number of doctors we train and we've known for years that we would face a real shortage in health care providers Something we really don't need right now We're still most cities have what's called certificate of need laws that prevent the development and construction of new hospitals Con laws allow other hospitals and clinics in certain areas to decide whether their potential Competitors can expand their capabilities or enter the market at all Contrary to popular belief health care in America is far far from a free market And it's precisely that bureaucratic centralized control and the regulatory restrictions that are killing us right now Just like they did in the 80s during the AIDS epidemic. Oh, and by the way, thanks to illegally acquiring AZT Ron Woodruff beat his 30-day prognosis by seven years and today the drug is approved and used in AIDS treatment and prevention All over the world the good news is that finally some of these rules are being lifted If only temporarily in some cases Allowing people to get what they need when they actually need it if you're searching for silver linings right now It could be that after this is all over maybe just maybe More people realize how involved government at all levels already is in their everyday lives health and well-being and Reject plans to expand its role in the future We need life-saving medicine and medical technology right now and the best way to incentivize rapid innovation Production and distribution is by allowing entrepreneurs to do what they do best But to do that we have to reduce the artificial barriers price controls and top-down Political authority in the health care system the lessons of economics aren't magically suspended in life or death situations To the contrary learning them now is more important than ever Hey everybody, thanks for watching this short edition of out of frame I know this one was a little different than usual So be sure to let me know what you think in the comments If you want to know more about the FDA and the other regulations I mentioned check out the links in the description and don't forget to like share and subscribe to all our social channels on YouTube Facebook Twitter and Instagram