Safe & effective? Pholcodine withdrawn after decades

Photo by Martin Sanchez on Unsplash

Only took around 7 decades. ‘Safe and effective’ pharmaceutical product pholcodine, with its ‘rare side effects’, has been recalled in Australia “for safety reasons”. Source. Back in December, the EMA stated that “pholcodine medicines are being withdrawn from the EU market”. Source. Bizarrely, the EMA still has a page on its website stating that “the benefits of pholcodine continue to outweigh its risks”. Source. Some of you may remember the debacle around the ‘safe and effective’ thalidomide, withdrawn after several years for causing birth deformities and miscarriages. Source. More recently, the ‘safe and effective’ rofecoxib (which I, as a former pharmacist, unfortunately had sold) was withdrawn for causing cardiovascular problems. Source.

But you’re a conspiracy theorist if you weren’t enthusiastically backing a vaccine that underwent development, trials, and approval in mere months, even though it typically takes 10-15 years, and that’s before recognising the novel technologies behind it and the lack of earlier successful coronavirus vaccines. Even though we know for a fact that the COVID-19 jabs are killing people. Even though there was no clear evidence from the clinical trials that they provided a net benefit. Even though there is ample evidence of negative efficacy and a mysterious rise in excess non-COVID deaths amongst the jabbed. Even though we keep learning about how the jab is correlated with increasing incidences of numerous health problems. Even though the swine flu vaccine was withdrawn for a lot less. 7 decades. Maybe that’s why the authorities wanted to hide the data for 75 years. Despite all this, the jab is still on the market, still widely encouraged, and still mandated.

Okay then.