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Comment by gcb1 | Hacker News Reader

its just a matter of knowing the game. big farma kills millions, nothing happens. small company still not pleasing the right people, huge fine/closed/etc

yes, i am implying the gov is corrupt. it is.

and this the reason everyone pays hundreds of dollars for catheters and such, and any company that tries to improve the design and price of those items are all in legislation or royalties limbo.

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"big farma kills millions"

Please cite a drug in the U.S. that has been approved by the FDA and has killed millions of people because it was defective. Overdoses don't count.

Not millions, and I don't want to buy into the "Big Pharma" conspiracy... but NPR's This American Life on the FDA & deaths from Tylenol was fascinating. It took the FDA 32 years to enforce warning labels for Tylenol (and other acetaminophen products) from when they were first recommended to do so:

http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/505/u...

You can start counting with 28k from Vioxx https://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/vioxx_estimates.html

Thalidomide, though didn't necessarily kill people, did destroy many lives. Baby formula, fire retardants, and many other products brought to market by lobbying industries have harmed consumers by varying degrees and all backed by the FDA.

"Fifty years ago, the vigilance of FDA medical officer Dr. Frances Kelsey prevented a public health tragedy of enormous proportion by ensuring that the sedative thalidomide was never approved in the United States."

http://blogs.fda.gov/fdavoice/index.php/2012/02/50-years-aft...

Why not overdose ?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paracetamol

> While generally safe for use at recommended doses (1,000 mg per single dose and up to 4,000 mg per day for adults), even small overdoses can be fatal. The ratio between fatal doses and therapeutic doses (the therapeutic index) is much smaller than for other over-the-counter painkillers. According to the US Food and Drug Administration as little as 25 percent above the maximum daily dose can cause liver damage when taken over several days

> In the United States, over 150 people die each year from overdoses, with up to 78,000 emergency room visits

Because drug companies aren't responsible for the actions of their customers. If you overdose on something like acetaphetamine, that's your fault, not Tylenol's. The information is out there regarding proper dosing and you've chosen to exceed that. That's really not a problem with the drug, you can overdose on practically anything, it's just chemistry. Society laughs at people (rightfully, I might add) who get busted drunk driving and try to blame Heineken for their actions. Also, taking 25% over than the recommend dosage several times may damage your liver but it certainly won't kill you. The LD50 for the drug in mice is 338 mg/kg.

yes but as I quoted, paracetamol is something you can overdose really easily, it's also a medicine everyone around me is using as a trivial thing. I might be surrounded by idiots but I think I'm the only one in my entourage who read the instructions (I've told my friends numerous amount of time "What? You're not suppose to take more than 4g per day!").

I might be surrounded by idiots but I think I'm the only one in my entourage who read the instructions (I've told my friends numerous amount of time "What? You're not suppose to take more than 4g per day!").

Seriously? If they can't even be bothered to read the instructions on medicine (or anything they put in their body) then they have problems and need more help. Or need to learn to read.

theranos. Board of Directors.

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