Commentary The late, great economist Milton Friedman used to point to the Food and Drug Administration as an example of a government agency that killed tens of thousands of people every year. This declaration stunned and even enraged people. How could an agency that is supposed to help develop, test, and certify the safety of new drugs be guilty of killing people? Friedman’s point was that the long and cumbersome five- to 10-year drug approval process at the FDA can be deadly. If a new drug to prevent strokes comes along and saves, say 50,000 lives a year, how many lives were lost because of needless bureaucratic delays? The point was well-taken: Even when well-intentioned regulations can do more harm than good in promoting health and safety. As we look over the past two years of COVID, how much of what the FDA and the Centers for Disease Control and …