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What we want is scientists who don't become part of the policy discussion: All they do is produce science. If someone becomes an advocate, then I won't pay as much attention to their science.

There's a certain libertarian right-wing view that there should be no FDA, that people can decide for themselves whether medicines are safe and effective. That's nonsense. Most people don't have the expertise or the resources to mount a proper study to find out whether a treatment is safe or effective.

I think FDA's concerns are patient-safety.

The FDA serves a real purpose: To protect public health.

Scientists are being portrayed by much of the power structure in politics and business as having a vested interest - that they're just out to get more grant money by exaggerating the threats.

Scientists generally are really chicken about getting involved in some kind of dispute. As a broadcaster, I find it very difficult to urge them, if it is a controversial subject. They don't want to have science being portrayed badly.

Politicians often misuse science for political ends and to pursue their own agenda.

It's time to let science and medicine, not politics and rhetoric, lead us to good, sound policy.

I'm a politician. I'm not going to get into a whole range of scientific argument with scientists.

I believe that politics takes a much different set of skills than science. Science is about getting to the truth. Politics is about what people think and how they react.