In the US: The most commonly used medical solvent besides saline turns out to be even more toxic than we thought. That’s kinda sad considering we already knew it was a neurotoxin.
Meanwhile, in Australia: DMSO still scheduled as a poison for the last 20 years.
6 Responses to “Unexpected low-dose toxicity of the universal solvent DMSO”
March 11
Benjamin Ross HoffmanIs this due to some general superiority of the Australian system? Or at least greater conservatism? (If so, I should ask “Is it legal in Australia?” before taking a drug.)
Or is it just that Australia got lucky this time?
March 11
Louie HelmYes, Australia has a far generally superior legal system. Their health, immigration, drug, vice, welfare, voting, and other legal frameworks are all better.
Every single time I’ve learned of an Australian policy, I’ve always marveled that they tried the thing that science and common sense said should work, and it worked. Not that I’d expect the obvious to fail, I’m just amazed they tried at all.
It’s like they somehow have a functioning government that occasionally tries stuff instead of a dystopian wasteland that uses anti-science and parliamentary sabotage to destroy itself.
March 11
Louie HelmThis effect seems strong enough to work in reverse too: Any time you can think of a disastrous policy or law in the US that’s moronic, you can just look up what Australia is doing to see what happens when a saner policy is enacted.
March 11
Will SawinIs there an explanation for this? I wonder if sanity kinda builds on sanity?
March 11
Robert WiblinAustralia – fck yeah!
March 11
John SalvatierLouie Helm not to mention better monetary policy.