Life Question #4:

If a new medicine were developed that would cure arthritis but cause a fatal reaction in 0.1% of those who took it, would you want it to be released to the public?

Heck no!  As tempting as it would be to rid the world of arthritis, I don’t think it’s ethical to knowingly release medication that would certainly kill a set amount of people.  In some ways it’s a shame because arthritis affects one in five American adults. My own mom struggles with arthritis (she’s only 55, so it’s probably going to get worse), and I’ve seen pain and discomfort she deals with.  As a young person who has no serious health problems, it’s hard to imagine having pain in my hands and wrists.  I do have what’s known as Raynaud ’s phenomenon, a condition in which my hands are super cold due to a lack of blood flow.  So in some ways I can understand the discomfort that could be associated with early onset arthritis.  Regardless, I can’t imagine having 50,000 people die because of this medication.