More for the Absolute Insanity Department

Pfizer drug for smokers (to quit and decrease their risk for heart attacks) actually increases risk of heart attacks by 72%
Yet when a doctor discovers a cure for brain cancer that (unlike chemo and radiation) does no harm to the body, the FDA unmercifully harasses him for decades, trying to keep his cure from the public. (See: http://www.burzynskimovie.com/ ). 

You couldn't make this stuff up.  But this is how it is in a crazy upside-down backwards world.  Read all about this latest bit of insanity at:
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/07/04/pfizers-quit-smoking-drug-raises-heart-risks-by-72-percent-study/

EXCERPT:  "I think our new research shifts the risk-benefit profile of varenicline," said Sonal Singh of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, who led the research and published it in the Canadian Medical Association Journal. "People should be concerned. They don't need Chantix to quit and this is another reason to consider avoiding Chantix altogether," he said in a statement. "People want to quit smoking to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, but in this case they're taking a drug that increases the risk for the very problems they're trying to avoid."

Investors had high hopes for Chantix when Pfizer first launched it in 2006, but reports of suicidal thoughts and other mental health problems in users led Food and Drug Administration (FDA) officials to order a "black box" warning on the drug's label in 2009.  (Don't you just love it when they advertise drugs on TV, telling how wonderful it is -- and then, in very fast-speak, cite all the possible side effects, most of which are far worse than the original health problem?)

For humor/laughter about this subject (and what else can you do but laugh at such absurdity?), read Steve Martin's essay "Side Effects" at: http://www.greenbridgemed.com/side-effects-by-steve-martin-for-your-enjoyment/