[<1/1,000,000th%]

Five years? I'm sure there are plenty of cancer patients who would be willing to volunteer to try it now for a chance at having a normal life span.

That's 5 years to start clinical trials. They've got to get through several phases of clinical trials. An available treatment may be 15 years away.

Thank the FDA on your way out.

[VetoBill]

I know there are some legitimate clinical trials needed, but often it seems the FDA is so afraid a drug/medical method is going to kill someone they would rather let those people die.

[Chemist_Geek]

Yeah, but OTOH, patients used to be sold snake oil and dropped dead more from the "med" than the illness...

[realpatriot71]

You're right about the FDA being a "pain in the ass," but you wouldn't want physicians and scientists injecting anything and everything into a person before research is done. What kills one bad thing, usually kills another good thing as well.

For instance (if you already know this - forgive me) about 2 years ago during retroviral gene therapy trials a young man suddenly died. I personally think that stopping all such trials was a mistake, but care needs to be taken. Don't you think?

[ALS]

Give it to a pile o' patients. If they are cured the testing is complete. Next step would be over the counter.

All this neverending" clinical phase" crap is more to figure out how many more patents they can squeeze out than it is to make sure it's "safe". Safe is relative. Ever watch a drug commercial and hear the hi-speed spiel at the end of a blistering list of "side effects" you'll get?
I would say that the cancer being cured outweighs vomiting, diarrhea, stuffiness, cramps, difficulty in acheiving an erection, blah, blah, etc. ad nausam and so forth.

[537 Votes]

An available treatment may be 15 years away.

Thank the FDA on your way out.

I understand where you're coming from, but bureaucracies have a way of fast-tracking things when there's enough public clamor.