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I just can’t believe the sheer amount of ignorance that some people can demonstrate. I am a doctor that for 15 years has helped people with the drugs that you vilify. Have you ever suffered from insomnia or restless leg syndrome? Have you ever had to deal with a child that has ADHD. Obviously not!! We live in a time of true medical wonders. Yes, medications have side effects and risks. As mentioned above the government requires that any side effect occurring greater than 1% of the time be listed.(Did you catch that -1%) Life is full of trade offs. We accept the risks of certain things for their benefits. I drive a car everyday and accept the risk of an accident. What about all of the lives that are saved every year with high blood pressure medication and lipid lowering drugs? What of all the chemotherapy that wipes out the cancers and gives people a chance at life? If you want to remain ignorant and refuses good medical care that is your right, but how dare you criticize others, or for that matter the pharmaceutical industry that has brought us such incredible medications and treatments! If you want to criticize anyone turn your attention to the government who stands in the way of good treatments and slows progress by the ludicrous system we call the FDA. I had patients cry in my office when they banned Vioxx because it was the only drug that gave them relief of their arthritis. They were more than willing to accept the risks for the benefits that they had. How dare anyone take that freedom from them?

Eric Roth, M.D.

Thanx, doc! Good post. I am old enough to remember when so many conditions had no treatment and sometimes, no diagnosis. 50-year-olds looked and felt and were OLD. People died at 60. It was common to see older folks with ace bandages around their lower legs to control edema from kidney function insufficiency. Many of them had untreated high blood pressure. Knowledge was limited, even to physicians. Antibiotics were *wonder drugs*. Before the discovery of penicillin and other antibiotics, even young folks with pneumonia were in danger of death from the disease and there was very little in the way of *life support*. Young adults died of TB.

We used mercury for styes and to prevent infection of cuts and scrapes. Bronchitis was treated with hot steam and codeine. There was no over-the-counter low dose corticosteroid cream, although there were steroid ointments on prescription that were greasy and irritating. Menopausal women drank Lydia Pinkhams Compound, which was about 40% alcohol. Heartburn was treated with baking soda. The treatment post cardiac infarction was total bed rest for weeks.

These are just a few items I personally recall from the 1940s-1950s.