Shades of Grey – The Good and Bad of Fluoroquinolones

Here is a new post about fluoroquinolones on Hormones Matter –

Shades of Grey – The Good and Bad of Fluoroquinolones

From it –

“Fluoroquinolones can do good, but they can do harm too. Categorizing things in terms of good or bad is the natural inclination of most people, but it’s never that simple for drugs. All drugs can do good, but they can do harm too – hence the list of side-effects that comes with each prescription. We can’t yet ask for drugs to only do good, and never do harm – that’s not the way the world works. But we can ask for dangerous drugs to be used appropriately. It is ONLY appropriate for fluoroquinolones to be used in life-or-death situations when other antibiotics aren’t effective. To use them flippantly, and when they aren’t entirely necessary, is inappropriate and a violation of the Hippocratic Oath.”

I hate that cipro hurt me.  I hate that fluoroquinolones hurt any of us.  But I still don’t think that they should be banned entirely.  It is not unreasonable to demand that they be used sensibly though.  The amount of collateral damage done by FQs is unacceptable.  Collateral damage should be minimized.  It’s not too much to ask for.