More Tales from the Public Prattle: The Peddlers of Perfidy, By Radhia Gleis

The other day my client described a condition they were experiencing that is almost too horrifying to mention. The person has diabetes and was taking a drug called Farxiga that lists its usual side effects as:

·nausea

·vomiting

·abdominal pain

·tiredness

·trouble breathing

·serious urinary tract infections

Those would have been a welcome consolation to the side-effect this patient was having. Here’s how it’s described:

“A rare but serious [flesh eating] bacterial infection that causes damage to the tissue under the skin (necrotizing fasciitis) in the area between and around the anus and genitals (perineum). Necrotizing fasciitis of the perineum may lead to hospitalization, may require multiple surgeries, and may lead to death.”

Now there’s a piece of information you might want before taking this drug. But AstraZeneca, Bristol-Myers Squibb, the FDA, and even their doctor neglected to mention it. We trust without question what they tell us. “Lower your A1C with Farxiga! Ask your doctor if a fatal, decomposing undercarriage is right for you!”

For those who are not familiar with the term “necrotic,” here is the definition:

ne·cro·sis

/neˈkrōsəs/

noun

1. the death of most or all of the cells in an organ or tissue due to disease, injury, or failure of the blood supply.

As my client’s whisker biscuit has been seared from tip to stern, they are hardly comforted by the fact that the flesh-eating bacterial side effect is “rare.” In fact, if your cells are dying from the taint up, the also-rare side effect of the side effect (death) may be the preferred alleviation. The upside is you won’t have to worry about diabetes, or online dating for that matter, and you only get that side-effect once.

Now that I’ve got your attention — can we talk?

The other day I was asked to give an interview for two major city network news channels about my book, The Followers. My agent told me, however, that the caveat was…