That's the core of the issue. Doctors know the first rule of medicine - do no harm to the patient - but drug companies long ago caved into the pressure to produce consistent quarterly earnings. "Do no harm" became "do no harm to the shareholders".
A few years ago, my mother developed a condition that started causing nerve damage in her joints in her legs. She has the best insurance money can buy, so money was no object in treating her. When she went for treatment, the doctors diagnosed her incorrectly for many years, and as a result they treated her with highly toxic drugs that a. were extremely expensive and b. eventually caused her to have a stroke and undoubtedly left her with a shortened life span. Should the drugs they gave her be legal? I don't know. The doctors nearly killed my mother with them, and we're talking about the best doctors in the best hospitals. Not good. Now compare this situation to the current federal (and partial state) ban on marijuana for medicinal purposes. Marijuana is non-toxic and it absolutely can not kill you. You can't overdose on it, and although it is habituating, evidence is that it is less habituating than alcohol, cigarettes, and even coffee - all of which are legal for general consumption, not even for medicinal purposes. Marijuana, moreover, provides a variety of benefits from pain relief to suppression of adverse memories that have showed benefit in trials. But marijuana remains illegal. Why? No profit. On Mon, Aug 16, 2010 at 12:34 PM, Judah McAuley <[email protected]> wrote: > > Money isn't a factor. It is about efficacy versus side effects. Should > the FDA approve a drug which is just as likely, or more likely, to > cause you harm than it is to help you? > > Judah ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Order the Adobe Coldfusion Anthology now! http://www.amazon.com/Adobe-Coldfusion-Anthology-Michael-Dinowitz/dp/1430272155/?tag=houseoffusion Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/message.cfm/messageid:325156 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/unsubscribe.cfm
