[6177c40f]

I'm not trying to discourage the use of these drugs. In fact, I would absolutely use them if I required them- their potential benefits outweigh the risks. But I also must admit that I would still feel more than a bit nervous about it.

I also should point out that "long term effects of taking them are not well understood" isn't my personal opinion per se, it's something I've read in the literature about these drugs, including relatively recent research (I wish I had a good source that summarizes this point, but I don't have one on hand). Concern about long term effects is real and legitimate, and pre-dates concern about COVID-19 vaccines (another instance where I believe the benefit far outweighs the risk, for the record). There must always be a balance between spending time testing vs. getting a pharmaceutical deployed. It would be absurd to imply that we're not making a tradeoff here.