The Pharmaceutical Industry

[Happy Monkey]

Originally Posted by DanaC

mercury was used for years as a medicine in the west. Until it became clear that it wasn't so much helping as poisoning the patents :P

I'm a fan of that "until".

Originally Posted by Clodfobble

To be fair, it did technically treat syphilis. The mercury killed you slower than the syphilis, that's all.

But there were also lots of folks drinking straight mercury for general health, which was of course not a wise plan.

That's a common issue with alternative medicine. Something may work in particular circumstances, and it becomes a cureall. Chiropracty may help certain back pain, and people use it for arthritis.

And leeches can be good to prevent clotting, but they're useless at best for... almost everything they used to be used for.

[DanaC]

Originally Posted by Happy Monkey

And leeches can be good to prevent clotting, but they're useless at best for... almost everything they used to be used for.

Nonsense: just pop a couple under your tongue and allow them to dissolve slowly...

(prizes for anyone who gets that comedy reference).