RonJohn
Helluva Engineer
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Prior to the invention of synthetic insulin, Type 1 Diabetes was a death sentence. An excrutiatingly slow death sentence. Around then in the early 1920s, scientists began trying to find ways to manufacture a synthetic insulin. If you had heard that their work might have some benefit, would you participate in studies to see if it helped, even if it weren't scientifically proven yet? What would you have had to lose? (In fact the first person scientists actually tested with their new invention didn't show any benefit.) Unlike the current drugs, synthetic insulin had no track record whatsoever for safety or efficacy.
Actually, the first synthetic insulin wasn't available until the 1980s. It was produced in the late 70s and tested. Before that, animal insulin was used.(mainly pig)
To your question: If I was diagnosed before insulin therapy began and had an opportunity to decide between certain death and a chance at some unproven potential new therapy, I would probably have chosen the therapy.
In the case of COVID-19, the choice isn't certain death and some unproven treatment. The choice is taking or not taking something that might have some affect on a disease that the person will most likely survive anyway. There is also a choice of more than 60 potential medicines that might have some affect, several of which have shown some indications that they might work. Are any of those that have shown some indication better than others? Which should one try to use?
The media frenzy over hydroxychloriquine started because of a document that was written and promoted by a person with fraudulent credentials and fraudulently claiming a credentialed co-writer. It referenced a non-scientific, non pier reviewed paper by a French doctor that had somewhat promising, but not convincing results. There is enough evidence that this medicine should be examined to see if it is effective. However, there are other medicines with enough evidence to study to see if it is effective. Do we ignore the other potential medicines because of a fraudulent document? We should study all of the potential medicines to see if they work. If one or more of them do work in scientific trials, the use those widely as soon as they are proven. If someone wants to use one of them before they are proven, that is a personal decision. However, don't widely spread one of them as a solution before it is proven. Doing so might cause people to not another solution after it is proven.