I.e. there was enormous political pressure put on the FDA to do something. If you suffer from a rare disease that is not on the 6 o'clock news every day, that's not likely to happen.
(I remember those days - everyone was talking about AIDS, everyone was terrified of it.)
Just last year: triclabendazole for liver flukes. That's emphatically not political. From 2018: apalutamide, an androgen receptor antagonist. Prostate cancer doesn't nearly get the attention it deserves, not political but sorely needed. 2017: secnidazole, for bacterial vaginosis. Strange to see that there, given that there are sufficient nitroimidazoles at market already. No political pressure.
Please, no reflexive regurgitation of libertarian propaganda directed against the FDA. They actually do their job.
I.e. there was enormous political pressure put on the FDA to do something. If you suffer from a rare disease that is not on the 6 o'clock news every day, that's not likely to happen.
(I remember those days - everyone was talking about AIDS, everyone was terrified of it.)