Re: Something Nefarious Afoot at the FDA

I just posted this on the site:

Despite all of the self-serving posts from the folks who will be making huge profits off the new drug, this smacks to me of the FDA once again serving the profits and interests of pharmaceutical companies instead of the public they are supposed to serve.

Virtually all drugs have side effects and so does the new Colcrys. Supposedly any decision to prescribe a drug comes down to risks versus benefits. The historical use of cochicine would seem to make it much safer than a great many commonly prescribed drugs. Besides, FDA approval does not always equate to safety - as we have amply seen with Vioxx, Fosamax, Avandia, Bexra, Alleve and a host of other drugs vouch safe and approved by the FDA.

Colcrys may be able to deliver better safety than colchicine, but there appears to be no justification for taking colchicine off the market and subjecting gout sufferers to much higher prices - other than to insure larger profits by Colcrys which would no longer have to compete with the much less expensive version.

The first place someone should look for gout relief in the first place is good old natural black cherry juice, such as Knudsen's.