Medicine: Does the FDA Know Best?

A storm over providing advice on drugs

Soon after Lewis Carroll's Alice tumbles down the rabbit hole, she finds a little bottle with a label tied round its neck. Printed on it is a short, direct message: DRINK ME. Prudently, Alice looks to make sure there is no additional marking saying POISON, mindful that imbibing toxic liquids "is almost certain to disagree with you, sooner or later." Discovering none, she obeys the command—and shrinks to a height of ten inches.

Much like the unsuspecting Alice, today's patients frequently feel they are falling into a drug Wonderland. All too often the powerful pills and...

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