Is this not a statement fully generalizable to tighter regulations on food and medicine, no matter how tight current regulations are?

Today we lose immeasurably more lives through unnecessary delays of important new medicines. There is no cost benefit calculation whatsoever.

Sounds quite measurable actually, so forgive me if I don't take your word for it. A promising new drug with a hidden side effect that is, for example, only observable 10-20 years later, could conceivably kill far more people than all the good drugs waiting to be approved could save.

I agree things could be sped up for things that treat terminal conditions, but that's not the majority of pharmaceuticals and even there, the situation isn't that simple.