The Food and Drug Administration has problems in many of the product areas it oversees. These include the slow approval of drugs, unnecessary and prolonged shortages of infant formula, and the problematic, ineffective regulation of tobacco products. To his credit, FDA Commissioner Dr. Robert Califf seems to realize his agency has issues.

He commissioned a report to recommend corrective actions.

So far, so good.

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Kudos to Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Robert Califf for acknowledging his agency needs help. Recognizing a problem is a prerequisite to making amends.

On July 19th, Califf conceded, as only a government official could, "the agency has confronted a series of challenges that have tested our regulatory frameworks and stressed the agency's operations, prompting me to take a closer look at how we do business." He also commissioned a report to help figure things out.

The FDA's bungled response to contamination at the Abbott Nutrition infant formula plant in Michigan drew attention to broader problems within the agency's food regulation bureaucracy.

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Advocates of President Biden's 2021 American Rescue Plan touted the $1.9 trillion-dollar stimulus bill as a vehicle for various goals—to fund a national vaccination program, stop Covid-19, and reopen schools. Who could be against any of that?

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In America's tragic opioid crisis , trial lawyers believe they have found an untapped well of financial wealth. More specifically, they think they've found a way to collect legal fees by redefining the concept of nuisance laws for their personal gain. This get-rich-quick scheme will only line the pockets of trial lawyers and create new legal hurdles.

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As talking heads blabbered about Will Smith this spring, it brings to mind a broader concept about this nation's unhealthy fixation on celebrity.

Twenty years ago this month, the eyes of the nation's lawmakers were focused on a witness at an otherwise bland hearing.  As CNN's Jonathan Karl reported, "I've never seen so many people crowd into an appropriations subcommittee hearing."

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