SIDE EFFECTS INCLUDE SMELLING LIKE HERB TEA

According to LiveScience, a topical application of mint oil -- as used by ancient Greek & Chinese physicians -- eases pain due to its anti-infammatory & skin-cooling properties. As the piece says, new synthetic "compounds [sharing the properties of mint oil] could be especially beneficial to millions suffering with the chronic pain of arthritis and diseases affecting nerve endings."

Check out the article; it sums it all up pretty straightforwardly. What interests me, however, is the absence of a sentence I always seem to see in these types of pieces. You know, the one that reads something like: "Dr. Joe Blow, spokesman of the American Medical Association, told us that rabbit spit has not been proven to be a legitimate cure for genital warts, and reminds people that only a licensed doctor can help you prevent this deadly affliction, blah, blah, blah . . ."

If this mint application research has any legs, the pharmaceuticals industry and it's partner, the AMA, will be in an uproar, doing everything it can to swiftboat these findings. Imagine the harm to Merck if we discover not only that Vioxx is potentially dangerous, but it's less effective than a $20 tube of over-the-counter mint oil?

I can dare to dream, can't I?

(At least til Big Pharma buys the patent for the synthetic oil.)