Of course everything has risks, but I'm just advocating not taking risks with extreme downside when the positive upside is small. Eating is necessary for life, but taking a pill to reduce the risk of acid-reflux symptoms is not.

> _Medications have a particularly strong impact, but are also highly controlled. You can judge the probability of various outcomes very well, which makes it a lot easier to come to a clear conclusion about using them or not._

This is the main point where we disagree. You say medications are controlled, but I see alarming numbers of recalls of drugs [1]. Controlled studies only show a small part of the picture of the long-term impact of a particular drugs' use.

> And I'm going to assume you didn't intend to say that merely going to the doctor should be avoided except in life-threatening circumstances.

All I'm saying is that going to the doctor has risks that need to be considered. And when a doctor recommends some treatment, ask what he would do if he was in your situation, or what recommendation she would give to her brother.

1. http://www.raps.org/Regulatory-Focus/News/2014/08/11/20005/N...