The Free Press, Mankato, MN

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November 2, 2009

Your View — Modern medicine a trial-and-error extravaganza

Jim Gallup, Mankato

The H1N1 is getting confused with the normal seasonal flu. Since patients aren’t allowed into hospitals unless their temperatures reach 105 degrees, the hospitals are more than likely spitting out misinformation as well (“could be H1N1 but not sure,” etc.)

I believe entirely that hoaxes exist, i.e., the H1N1 is good for Pfizer and Bristol-Myers Squibb, Tamiflu and other “anti-virals” being sold at record pace.

I don’t ever get the flu shot — too dangerous. If your immune system can’t do the job, you are in trouble anyway. I hate the idea of a manmade concentrate being injected.

We don’t know squat about anything at this point — especially given the fact that micro RNAs have only recently been discovered. This changes the playing field entirely. Although a human has only 27,000 genes, the hundreds of miRNAs that exist in different profiles — from moment to moment in each one of us — makes the playing field incomprehensible.

That’s why trial and error is the only way that drug discovery works (but does it work?) Medicine is a crapshoot. We didn’t get here from the caveman stage by modern medicine.

Modern medicine is a trial-and-error extravaganza. He who can blow the most convincing smoke wins.

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