3 ms·

Really? It's 2019, there is no argument to be had over this. Impurity problems have occasionally come up over the years, but they have largely been addressed q

Really? It's 2019, there is no argument to be had over this. Impurity problems have occasionally come up over the years, but they have largely been addressed quickly by existing regulations. And at no point have they ever approached the level of risk posed by the illnesses they are prescribed to treat. While the risk of impurities in the generic drug supply certainly warrant research, the percentage of issues again doesn't approach significance with comparison to these pervasive illnesses. Nothing is risk-free. Eating food has risk, taking paracetamol has risk, getting blood drawn has risk. Saying something has risk without talking about the amount of risk and the context of the risks it mitigates is pointless. Drug impurities in generics introduce negligible amounts of risk. Eating peanuts in public or going for a drive is much riskier, and we almost all do those things without a second thought. By contrast, access to affordable drugs mitigate huge risks: the illnesses we medicate can, did and do cause horrific harm up to and including death, and do so very well. The pharmaceutical industry is not immune to criticism, it is just they have weathered all the reasonable criticism leveled at them. If you are willing to drive in a car, taking generics that could should be a complete non-issue for you. In an era of fake news and increasing doubt in the medical establishment, publishing reports like this is not only irresponsible, but unethical. This only adds fuel to the fire of unwarranted skepticism towards our medical system.

brianpgordon 7y ago
I thought the article did a decent job of explaining exactly what the problem is in this case and communicating the scale of the risk. Your comment, on the other hand, sounds like a kneejerk dismissal entirely based on the headline not agreeing with what you thought was true. Yes generics have proven to be broadly safe. That doesn't mean there aren't still issues that need to be addressed by tweaking or adding regulation. Yes even with carcinogens the contaminated generics are probably better than taking nothing. That doesn't mean that the contamination is acceptable.
KingMachiavelli 7y ago
Exactly, I sort of failed to highlight this directly in my comment but the fact that the article focuses on a single case of tainted generics vs who knows how many people die each year waiting for drugs to be approved and/or imported is pretty insane.

brianpgordon 7y ago

I thought the article did a decent job of explaining exactly what the problem is in this case and communicating the scale of the risk. Your comment, on the other hand, sounds like a kneejerk dismissal entirely based on the headline not agreeing with what you thought was true. Yes generics have proven to be broadly safe. That doesn't mean there aren't still issues that need to be addressed by tweaking or adding regulation. Yes even with carcinogens the contaminated generics are probably better than taking nothing. That doesn't mean that the contamination is acceptable.

KingMachiavelli 7y ago

Exactly, I sort of failed to highlight this directly in my comment but the fact that the article focuses on a single case of tainted generics vs who knows how many people die each year waiting for drugs to be approved and/or imported is pretty insane.