5thhorseman wrote: ↑Sat Jun 19, 2021 9:49 pm
Mëds wrote: ↑Sat Jun 19, 2021 9:04 pm
So you're OK with brand new and comparatively untested, but old drugs that have been studied and approved, with well established side effects etc., being used for off-label treatments is not an acceptable thing. Ok.....
Yeah, good point. I understand using drugs off-label as I do it with my animals from time to time (usually antibiotics), though I don't know how accepted a practice that is with humans. But why would you use a drug off-label with unknown efficacy when you have a vaccine with 85-95% efficacy? And back to my earlier question, if using Ivermectin or hydroxychloroquine is so effective, why wouldn't a manufacturer go through the necessary steps to get it approved and cash in? What company wouldn't want that additional cash flow?
Accepted practice in humans? Lol! Ever heard of aspirin?
Hydroxychloroquine was initially put out as an antimalarial drug in the early 1900's. In 1956 it started being used to treat autoimmune disorders like lupus and rheumatoid arthritis. You have to monitor blood levels and liver enzymes though because in some people it can build up in the liver, then you have to come off of it and let it flush. Sometimes you can go back on.
Prazosin, a drug designed to treat high blood pressure, now being used for treatment of nightmares in PTSD patients.
Clonidine, another antihypertensive, used for ADHD.
Quetiapine, a drug for bipolar and schizophrenia, now being used to treat insomnia.
Colchicine, originally designed for gout (just as Doc), now considered among first line treatments for pericarditis.
Propanolol, for hypertension and prophylaxis of angina, is also used for performance anxiety.
Haldol, an antipsychotic, for nausea and vomiting in palliative patients.
Gabapentin, Acyclovir, Buproprion.....more and more medications are being looked at for off-label use, and big pharma hates that because it means old drugs have a new lease on life but they can't capitalize on it because the patents have run out. Which is why, in the case of Covid symptom management and treatment, the aforementioned hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin are "old". There are no patents held on them and therefore they are cheap, in terms of revenue it's low flow. Now, what if you can pressure the FDA and various politicians and media moguls to squash this idea so that instead of having a treatable disease where mortality is super super low (when treated) and the body can recover and build its own immunity you scare the shit out of everyone, tie the hands of medical professionals, and roll out a vaccine that will make you billions of dollars. You can't charge an arm and a leg for the old stuff, because hey, it's old. But this new stuff? Well someone needs to pay for the R&D.
5th wrote:
Mëds wrote: ↑Sat Jun 19, 2021 9:04 pm
Why was herd immunity suddenly something to be attacked and questioned, or presumed to be not possible with Covid?
I assume you mean 'herd immunity' in the sense of becoming immune by catching covid which I don't think is the correct use of the term, but anyways. Sure it's possible to reach herd immunity by allowing covid to spread, but what about the long-term effects (covid long-haulers)? Who wants that!? Sometimes a vaccine is better than just catching the disease. That's why we prefer to have people vaccinated against chickenpox. Sure, you could get it 'naturally', but then you're at risk of getting shingles later on in life. If you are vaccinated, you don't have that risk.
Yes, I meant in that sense. However, I did not mean let it run its course and to hell with those who can't survive it. I was referring to the comments that have come out from some healthcare people, and then shotgunned around by the masses and social media, that dismiss herd immunity as even being a thing.
Same argument for those who are saying that natural immunity is not as good as vaccine acquired immunity. Bullshit. Vaccines work on the very principle that exposure to a pathogen creates an immune response.
Anyways, I'll stop there before I get long winded again.