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Evaluating DMSO has proved exceptionally difficult in part because of its peculiar properties. Drugs are usually evaluated in what are known as double-blind, controlled experiments in which patients receive either the test substance or a placebo. To ensure objectivity, neither the patients nor the doctors know who got what until after the study is over. But the distinctive taste and odor of DMSO leave no doubt about which patients have received the real drug.
Jacob, who admits he is obsessed with DMSO (he attributes his three divorces to his fascination), claims that bureaucratic obstinacy has hampered approval of the substance. Says he: "DMSO's too good. If I had said it was only of value for sprained ankles, it would have been approved. But when I talked about a huge gamut of usage, it was anathema. It had not been seen before." The FDA disagrees, claiming that it is open-minded about the drug Dr. J. Richard Crout, director of the FDA bureau of drugs, testifying last month at a hearing on DMSO before the House Committee on Aging, insisted that the agency was "willing, indeed anxious" to approve further uses for the drug if claims were substantiated.
Despite the restrictions on the use of DMSO, thousands of Americans still manage to obtain it. Some use a form of the drug that has been approved for veterinary use or even resort to the industrial solvent. Others travel to shady DMSO arthritis clinics in Mexico. This has alarmed the Arthritis Foundation, which, despite erroneous press reports, has advocated only the testing of DMSO. Says Foundation Official Charles Bennett: "There is a good deal of evidence that DMSO may be effective as a short-term painkiller, but there is no scientific proof that it reduces swelling and inflammation. We advise arthritis victims not to listen to the DMSO siren song and not to try to get the drug by some devious means."