On April 11, 2015, ABC News Denver published a list of the 50 most dangerous medicines in America.1
The top number one drug?
Cyclophosphamide.
The article states there had been 33,128 reports of serious adverse reactions.
So I looked into the drug.
It’s used, as briefly as possible, to treat life-threatening cancers and autoimmune conditions.
It’s a “nitrogen mustard.”
It was originally developed as a chemical weapon to be used in war. Mustard gas.
It attacks all cells of the body. The hope is that it will destroy cancer before it kills the patient.
A few “side effects”: vomiting, bleeding bladder, hair loss, future cancer, birth defects (e.g., “absence of digits”), toxic effects on the heart…
The World Health Organization puts the drug on its list of essential medicines.2
Pack it in your bag if you’re going on a long trip?
The side effects are a bit misleading, because as I mentioned, cyclophosphamide is your basic cell killer.
It attacks DNA and RNA. Anywhere and everywhere in the body. The idea being: maybe it’ll stop cancer cells from replicating before it destroys the patient.
That was the original premise of chemotherapy. “We don’t know how to specifically target cancer cells, so let’s attack all cells. And keep our fingers crossed. And let’s publish thousands of papers justifying and celebrating this approach…”
Of course now, you can read all sorts of heraldic cancer literature claiming the newest forms of treatment DO target only cancer cells.
I have my doubts.
In that regard, this is what I want to see (if honesty is at all possible):