DOUBLE-DUTY DRUGS

APPROVED MEDICATIONS ARE BEING WIDELY PRESCRIBED FOR UNAPPROVED USES

Heather Trebilcock has never smoked a cigarette. So she certainly never thought she would be putting nicotine directly into her blood--or that she would be grateful for its presence. But when Trebilcock developed severe abdominal cramps and diarrhea two years ago and starting losing weight--dropping 20 lbs. in three weeks--she knew she had to do something. Her doctor in Des Moines, Iowa, thought she might have colitis, a painful inflammation of part of the large intestine. In her case, however, standard treatments for the disease didn't work , and her condition deteriorated.

Desperate for relief, and facing the possibility of radical...

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