Articles

The Other Drug War

The struggle over the FDA has little to do with tobacco, or even David Kessler.

Reason , November 1996

Jennifer Cox could barely breathe. Bronchial asthma and a seizure disorder had not only driven her home from college but left her so weak she couldn't cross the room. Asthma medicine exacerbated the seizures, and the only drugs approved to treat the seizures themselves had terrible complications: One made her chest and respiratory muscles cramp constantly. Another destroyed her bone marrow. The remaining alternative, a three-drug cocktail, gave her tremors, double vision, and balance problems