This month’s question places you in the FDA commissioner’s seat: You are the Commissioner of the FDA. A friend has informed you of the following situation: Over 1,000 people with severe, refractive emphysema have banded together to test a drug that is approved for asthma but not emphysema. Participants “drew straws” to determine which of them would ask their physicians for a prescription. While the FDA has no authority over the practice of medicine, it does have authority over clinical studies that create generalizable knowledge. Read more