Accepted abbreviated phrases exist. For example, another exists in the medical industry. When a patient is ready for surgery and a technician requests the doctor’s presence, the tech will pass a note to the doctor who may be in another room or on the phone etc. The note will say “Green in 2” That is the short version of; “the patient in surgery room 2 is ready for the doctor’s presence.”
Now if it were a patient using Licht’s reasoning, in the surgery room who overheard a technician pass the abbreviated phrase, “Tell the doctor we’re green in room 2”, there may be a danger of that patient latching on to another definition of the word “Green”. This patient might protest… I don’t want greenhorn trainees working on me, I paid good money and I demand experienced technicians.
Technically, the FDA uses a definition of the word “approved” that is considered “obsolete” in Webster’s dictionary:
ap·provedap·prov·ing
transitive verb
obsolete : prove, attest
According to the CDC, tobacco is responsible for approximately 5 million deaths worldwide annually.
“Approved” or “Approval” is used by the FDA as their official term for their safety and efficacy vindication process.
The FDA, an organization that exists to protect the public from harmful and ineffective products runs into trouble with the “approval” word because they approve the sale of tobacco products. That said, tobacco products have never gone through the FDA’s official Approval testing process and declared safe for public consumption.
There are numerous examples where the word “approval” has been used in the same context I am being criticized for with reference to the FDA giving the green light to a company, allowing sale of a product. That context is one of the common dictionary definitions meaning “consent or agree to”. The following are examples where others have used the word approve or approved without making reference to the FDA’s offficial process they have named the “Approval process”:
New York Times Article
In First, F.D.A. Rejects Tobacco Products
“Kenneth E. Warner, a public health professor at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, said the ruling might be an indication of the agency’s thinking on menthol. Newport cigarettes are traditionally menthol flavored, but the two types the agency approved did not contain the menthol additive. The agency is expected to rule on whether to ban menthol, but the timing is not known.”
Redorbit
First New Cigarettes Receive FDA Approval For Sale In The US
Furthermore, the FDA revealed 136 substantial equivalence applications had been withdrawn at the request of the applicants. According to Bloomberg, the agency had initially received 500 requests for approval from tobacco companies.
http://www.redorbit.com/news/health/1112883698/fda-approves-new-tobacco-products-from-lorillard-062613/
ABCNEWS
Congress Readies Bill to Give FDA Tobacco Oversight
However, the bills would not require FDA approval of tobacco products already on the market; only new products would need FDA approval before they could be sold to consumers. In addition, the FDA would not have the authority to increase the legal age for buying cigarettes or restrict where cigarettes are sold.
Consumerist
FDA Okays Two New Cigarettes Because They Are Just As Harmful As What’s Already Available
While the FDA is patting itself on the back over the SE process, the agency is also taking every opportunity to point out that approval of a new cigarette does not mean it’s any less harmful than what’s already available to smokers, nor does FDA’s go-ahead mean smoking is a good idea. In fact, tobacco companies are forbidden from saying their products are “FDA approved.”
Medical News Today
FDA Approves Two New Tobacco Products And Denies Four Others
Although the new products have some different characteristics to the predicate products, the FDA said that they do not pose any different questions of public health.
Products that raise questions of public health that are not substantially equivalent (NSE) will be denied approval to enter the market.
The four products that the agency didn’t approve lacked evidence to suggest that they did not raise different questions of public health.
Law Firm
After Decades, Is the FDA Ready to Crackdown on Tobacco Use?
“The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently announced it has rejected the approval of four proposed tobacco products while authorizing the marketing of two new ones.”
http://www.searcylaw.com/blog/after-decades-is-the-fda-ready-to-crackdown-on-tobacco-use/
NPR
Cigarette Makers Frustrated As Product Approvals Stall
“A clerk prices cigarettes at Discount Smoke Shop in Ballwin, Mo. The Food and Drug Administration, which must approve all new tobacco products or any changes to existing brands, has not cleared any products since assuming that responsibility in 2009.”
The above examples show that the word approval or approved is commonly used as an abbreviated version of, cleared for sale. This is not illegal or a deceptive misrepresentation you imply.
I was originally accused of using the word “approved” with regards to the FDA because it instills some kind of false endorsement of a product. When one considers the FDA approves the sale of tobacco, responsible for approx. 5 million deaths per year, that puts FDA approval in an entirely different light.
Speaking of jokes… After reading your posts, our associate who works with the FDA reminded me of the “joke” made in a film:
Leslie Neilson
Mimi Du Jour: Is this some kind of bust?
Lt. Frank Drebin (Nielsen): Yes, maam, its very impressive, but we need to ask you a few questions.
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I am not a doctor and the content of my posts are my opinions, not medical advice
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