There&#x27;s a great xkcd about the p-value interpretation issue.<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;xkcd.com&#x2F;882&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;xkcd.com&#x2F;882&#x2F;</a><p>So, how does the FDA deal with this issue today? Suppose the scientists wanted to market (some flavor) of jelly beans as a drug to cure acne (instead of to cause it), and they test 20 flavors and get evidence at p &lt; 0.05 that white jelly beans cure acne. Or 1000 flavors and evidence at p &lt; 0.001.<p>Does the FDA look for a causal mechanism that would make the drug effective? Or are the companies afraid to market things that they genuinely suspect are ineffective because they&#x27;ll eventually get sued? Or is the FDA&#x27;s effectiveness standard so strong that you just can&#x27;t cost-effectively game it like this today? (The last possibility seems a little bit unlikely.)