So if the FDA is unable to find someone who can understand or can’t interpret/understand the studies themselves enough to see flaws or likely fake data, they should just take the companies word for it that it’s all good?

Last I remember this being a topic of discussion, the stance was ‘trust but verify’ no?

While it may be efficient to rubber stamp things, it is not doing their job. Folks scam all the time, especially if they know no one is looking.

If they lack the competence to be able to independently verify, they aren’t being effective regulators.