In the wave of euphoria that followed, a batch of new drugs flooded the market. Four years later, those drugs are wreaking unimaginable horror on the patients who dared to hope. And spin she does. Farber's fiction was recently regurgitated in the form of a commentary posted to the ABC News website by Nicholas Regush, an ABC producer who is peddling a new book. Numerous people living with HIV have been harmed by the drugs they take.
Drugs can be toxic.
But there's no denying that its virologic and immunologic benefits have been nothing short of miraculous for many. And then there are the side effects. For those starting therapy, often there is diarrhea, nausea and vomiting. Over the longer term, peripheral neuropathy frequently develops, as do liver and kidney toxicities and a long list of potential metabolic abnormalities. Coping with severe side effects can be manageable at best, or reason for treatment cessation at worst.