Week in Review: You Won't Believe What the Government Is Regulating Now

The federal government isn’t supposed to be in the business of regulating the practice of medicine, but that’s exactly what the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is doing time and time again. This week, the Goldwater Institute urged the U.S. Supreme Court to halt the FDA’s latest power grab. This time, the agency is attempting to assert sweeping control over a patient’s own stem cells.

At issue is whether doctors may remove and reinsert a patient’s cells during a single procedure—without the FDA classifying the treatment as a federally regulated “drug.” “That might all sound academic, were it not for the invention of cutting-edge individualized medical treatments involving stem cells,” explained Tim Sandefur, Vice President for Legal Affairs at the Goldwater Institute’s Scharf-Norton Center for Constitutional Litigation. “These treatments, which show great promise for improving or even eliminating life-threatening conditions, are tailor-made for patients, because they involve taking a person’s own cells, treating them, and then re-implanting them into the patient, where they can grow, spread, and even fix unhealthy tissues.”

We’ve asked the Supreme Court to take up this case, to enforce meaningful limits on FDA power, and to preserve the right of patients to defend and improve their own lives.

You can read more about the issue here, and read more about our work in defense of medical autonomy here.

Cities Must Enforce the Law

What happens when a city refuses to enforce the law and property owners suffer the consequences? It’s happening all over the nation, as cities allow clearly illegal homeless encampments to spread unchecked. But now, thanks to the Goldwater Institute, there’s a way to hold cities accountable—and a court issued a significant ruling this week that upholds that effort.

In a significant legal win for property owners that echoes nationwide, the Arizona Court of Appeals ruled that Tucson’s refusal to clear illegal homeless encampments violates state nuisance laws and that the city can be held liable under voter-approved Prop. 312—a Goldwater Institute innovation that allows property owners to get a refund for expenses they incur as a result of a city’s failures.

The court rejected Tucson’s attempt to ignore public safety laws with impunity. That’s welcome news to the hardworking taxpayers of Tucson, who are the real victims of the city’s refusal to enforce the law. But it’s also a signal for cities across the country. Home- and business owners pay taxes in exchange for police protection and other public services, and cities should be held accountable when they don’t keep up their end of the bargain.

Read more here.

The Truth about DEI in Schools

The David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, one of the most prestigious medical schools in the United States, is known for producing top-tier doctors. But did you know that alongside traditional courses like anatomy and physiology, students are now required to take a class on Structural Racism and Health Equity?

It’s all part of the rise of DEI—Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion—within the education system, from med schools to elementary classrooms. The Goldwater Institute is fighting back by enacting laws that root DEI out of higher ed—and we’re also exposing the truth.

Learn more in this video, and please share it with friends.