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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Patricia Trinchero who wrote (124299)	1/29/2001 7:11:13 PM
From: Mark Harjes	Respond to of 769667

I am all in favor of methodologies and practices aimed at objective verification and fact-based investigation of medical (and other) technologies. But I am skeptical that a government agency is the only (or even the best) mechanism by which to achieve this. Indeed, history demonstrates that levels of deception, corruption and inefficiency rise as government's role expands... in any and all areas of human endeavor. I am not denying the usefulness of certification processes, but I also insist that free individuals must have the option of choosing their own levels of 'acceptable' certification, or of by-passing any specific certification if they choose. Although I would not want to make any of your family a 'guinea pig', I would deny your attempt to prohibit me from making myself a 'guinea pig'. I believe you should be free to operate within a structure of practices that you are comfortable with... to require government-mandated 'rules' is to restrict the behavior of OTHER PEOPLE to your own personal standards... I don't believe that a government agency is the only or best way to objectively determine good medical practice any more than I believe it is the best way to determine good software development or seismological research practice. I have observed, made use of, and even helped develop 'rules' for objective analysis and verification in these arenas for many years and over many miles :-) A difference is that no government-enforced monopoly and licensing agency limits other people from 'doing' software development in the way that THEY choose. As long as my poor medical choices or my reliance on poor medical advice harms no one but myself, I should be free to make those poor choices. Further,we should be free to perform/fund medical and pharmaceutical research, and both provide and seek out medical/health advice and counseling as we choose, without government restriction...