A Lethal Combination

"Medical ventriliquism" indeed. The onset of a condition associated with loss of sexual interest, among other things; a new generation of people allergic to their own mortality; and a pharmaceutical industry that works nights and weekends devising new ways to separate you from your money.

Along the way, television commercials positioned hormone drugs as treatments for more than hot flashes and night sweats — just two of the better-known symptoms of menopause, which is technically defined as commencing one year after a woman’s last menstrual cycle.

One commercial about estrogen loss by the drug maker Wyeth featured a character named Dr. Heartman in a white coat discussing research into connections between menopause and heart disease, Alzheimer’s disease and blindness.

...

The suits also assert, based on recently unsealed court documents, that Wyeth oversold the benefits of menopausal hormones and failed to properly warn of the risks.

When I started this last month, I thought it might be somewhat difficult - meaning it would test my own ability to exploit the subject consistently and over time... exactly the very reasons to pursue it. But it's turning out that you don't even have to scroll down the page of the most-read news site - one that treats its readers in a generally childish fashion - to find glaring examples of gross obscenity. Which is itself...

damn.