Tag Archives: medicine

Poisoning Children: Some Horrible History

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Pardon the sensationalism in the title of this post, but be assured that it is accurate. I am writing about a tragedy in which a company made poisonous cough syrup, killed children, and largely, got away with it.

More than 100 people were killed, back before companies had to safety test their formula before putting them on the market.

It was 1937, and the deaths and the scandal prompted reform of the laws regulating medicine and cosmetics, requiring companies to perform animal testing and to send the results to the FDA before sales.

The whole sordid, tragic tale can be found here, on Speakeasy Science, a blog which I heartily recommend to anyone with an interest in the history of science. A shorter take on the elixir sulfanilimide tragedy can be found on Wikipedia.

Critically, however, the same poisonous substance in the cough syrup has sickened and killed people many times since. It’s a sweet-tasting organic compound called diethylene glycol, and it’s been responsible for a number of poisonings, as recently as 2008.

Sometimes it seems like we just keep making the same mistakes over and over again.

Victimizing Cancer Patients

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"Evil" is a hard word to define and a strong word to use, but it’s hard not to use it to describe people who prey on the vulnerable or helpless, from babies, to puppies, to people suffering with a potentially terminal illness.

Last night I was appalled to learn there is an entire industry that exists for the sole purpose of taking advantage of cancer patients.

I was reading Quackwatch, a highly-praised, nationally-acclaimed website dedicated to debunking pseudoscientific health claims. Quackwatch is pretty much Snopes, but for health information, and it’s run by an actual credentialled doctor. It is highly reputable.

This page, "A Special Message to Cancer Patients Seeking "Alternative" Treatments," filled me with disgust, and additionally, made me want to cry and/or break somebody’s knees. The list of questionable cancer treatments alone, some of which claim they cure 100% of all cancers, is horrific. And considering some of the "treatments" can not only not cure your cancer, but can burn off your nose (warning: ghastly, ghastly photos in this link!) or break your bones? I hesitate to use the word "evil," but surely, surely this type of quackery is it.

The worst danger in quackery, however, is that a practitioner will convince you not to use conventional medicine such as radiation, chemotherapy or surgery to fight your cancer. Some practitioners will not just give you treatments that do not work; they will actively attempt to persuade you not to use treatments that are proven to work, using arguments like these. Some of them will even claim there’s a conspiracy to suppress cancer cures.

Some of these people actually believe in their therapies and remedies, but others do not and are simply out to make a fast buck by taking advantage of people in desperate, terrifying circumstances.

If you or a loved one has cancer, concerns about immunization, or even if you simply wish to be well-informed about alternative medicine (which is good, which is bad and which is neither), please check out Quackwatch. You could save a life, or even just a nose.