The Laws of the Pharmaceutical Industry 1129

CBI - it's become quite obvious - we are arguing based on medical science, data, and statistics and Anth is arguing anecdote, opinion, and conjecture.

My question is - why are we wasting our time. Other than the entertainment value and the chuckles from his posts, I don't see much merit.

No - you started with the premise that vitamins were non-toxic - that they are perfectly safe, even in megadoses.

Hepatotoxicity is hardly an innocuous side effect. Hypotension is potentially life threatening. You want to roll the dice?

"Niacin toxicity does exist, but is rare. Dr. Hoffer found that even 40,000 mg daily is not toxic but estimated that over 200,000 mg-day is bane."

bane???

That is irrelevant. The FDA considers ADRs (AEs) to be signs of tocicity. The medical community considers these events to be signs of toxicity. Just because you don't is meaningless. If that's all you have - your personal opinion and

Some patients experience significant flushing after even therapeutic doses of niacin - this is an example of an acute toxicity.

Some patients experience experience hepatotoxicity even at chronic doses of as little as 500mg per day!

nausea and diarrhea - not exactly pleasant for me - perhaps you enjoy it?

You argued for 3 grams of niacin. Regardless, flushing is a sign of systemic toxicity. There is no getting around this, Anth. Hepatotoxicity, gi disturbances, arrhythmias, ulcer5s, and the like are just the top of the iceberg of what vitamin toxicities are.

Thanks again for making my point. And given that there are no obligations on the part of the vitamin manufacturers to report adverse events, the number could well be dramatically under reported.

The benefit outweighs the risk - pulmonary clots are almost always bane but warfarin bleeds are readily reversible with small doses of IV vit K1.

js