Policy Tragedy and the Emergence of Regulation: The Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act of 1938

In: Studies in American political development, Volume 21, Issue 2, p. 149-180

Abstract

Chronicles circumstances leading to the passage of the Food, Drug, & Cosmetic Act in 1938, focusing on the crisis created by the 107 deaths linked to a patent medicine, "Dr. Massengill's Elixir Sulfanilamid." The act gave the US Food & Drug Administration sole power to determine the ex ante marketability of any pharmaceutical product; it also undergirds the requirement that pharmaceutical drugs be prescribed by a doctor. Ways that this case illustrates the notion of "policy tragedy" are explained within the larger context of how crises become associated with new regulatory measures; the role of the media in this process is also discussed. Tables, Figures, References. K. Hyatt Stewart