You're right about big pharma being the corporate equivalent of corner drug pushers.

There are some TV adverts for a "disease" called "restless leg syndrome," and a new drug to treat it. It sounds like bullshit to me, and my wife's theory is that there's some drug whose patent is about to, or already has, expired (thus making it available by others as a cheap generic), so the drug company discovers that the drug is indicated to treat a completely different problem, which means that they can get another few years of full-price, patent-protected prescriptions for the drug. Same drug, already paid for. So, the doc can prescribe it "generically" for the original indications, but to treat the new syndrome, the doc has to prescribe the brand name (at greater cost). What a scam.

As for thalidomide, I was at my local drug store getting something or other and I saw a box labelled "thalidomide" on a shelf. I asked the pharamacist about it, and he said that it IS indicated for very specific issues, and the list of waivers the patient has to sign is as thick as a phone book. To get it, the pharamacist has to personally speak to the prescribing physician (not to a clerk or an assistant) and it's all pretty serious.

-a