I have a question for you
Open thread
Serious question inspired by a reader (h/t Christoph): Would you take prophylactic chemotherapy just in case you might get cancer in the future? Doesn’t this seem like the moral equivalent of PrEP? Doesn’t this make it even creepier how hard PrEP is being pushed to the gay and Black communities?
I have a family member who underwent a mastectomy (her mom had breast cancer) on the advice of an MD friend who is a cancer surgeon.
My experience in the scientific research field was that most of my colleagues had great fear of any so-called condition that medicine told them they should fear.
My first awakening to that fact was a lunchtime discussion of ~15 healthy, active, young scientists (in their 20's and 30's) in which I was the only person who did not know my cholesterol, LDL, and HDL levels. And worried about it. And treated it as recommended. Bizarre.
Fear drives many to foolish behavior, so no surprise that people would take any deadly thing medicine tells them to.
If hepatitis-c is “cured” and requires no further drug treatment when no virus is detected why does an AIDS patient with undetectable viral load and t-cell count 600+ require lifetime treatment with a balanced “cocktail” of slow killing, toxic chemotherapeutic drugs that have known side effects that mirror the definition of AIDS?
If an AIDS patient with undetectable viral load went for an AIDS test and didn’t tell that they were previously hiv positive they would be told they were not infected and do not need treatment but would be encouraged to begin the recently released hiv vaccine that requires injection every two months. For the rest of your sexually active life.
As with any profit based business, ensuring return customers is vital for success.
If as is claimed, hiv remains latent, inactive, not reproducing and undetectable in hidden reservoirs how can anyone ever be certain they are not infected and the virus isn’t just inactive and undetectable in hidden reservoirs?
Why isn’t everyone on anti-hiv treatment? Just in case.
For the common good.