Sometimes it comes down to the lesser of evils with drugs - does the benefit outweigh the possible side effects? Some people are helped by a certain medicine while others are harmed. And the FDA, since all the deregulation and the firing of inspectors, hasn't been able to work the way it should. It is improving, though. For a long time, the drug companies were hiding results that were negative so the FDA was approving drugs that weren't what the company said they were. Even with clinical trials, the possible side effects don't always show up until the drug has been used long term, hence the recalls and taking drugs off the market after they've been used long-term.

Since not everyone reacts the same way to a drug, it's hard to predict who will be helped. Most of the clinical trials, until recently, were done with men, so it was a shock when they realized that drugs act differently in women as a whole.

And all drugs have possible side effects, but not everyone who takes that drug has side effects.