Unsafe at any speed.

Ralph Nader's Public Citizen:
"On March 28th of this year, we petitioned the FDA to immediately ban the attention deficit drug Cylert (pemoline--Abbott) and all generic versions of pemoline because of clear evidence that the drug causes liver failure and that it has no unique advantage over other drugs used to treat this condition."

Teresa and Patrick Nielsen Hayden:
"Cylert (generic name "pemoline") has been the most effective treatment for Teresa's narcolepsy in 24 years since she was first diagnosed. She's been taking it for most of that time. Now it's gone.
[...]
Cylert has been implicated in some people's liver problems. Teresa is regularly tested and her liver is fine. Evidently Abbott, makers of brand-name Cylert, discontinued it in March—but Sandoz intended to keep making the generic version, until the FDA, pressured by Nader's group, weighed in to discontinue it entirely—despite a last-minute appeal from the Narcolepsy Network. Thank you, Public Citizen, for completely shafting my wife."
[... ...]
"Cylert and liver failure: After twenty-plus years on Cylert, my liver is just fine. I don't see why I shouldn't have the option of self-monitoring for symptoms of liver failure plus regular tests."

It's certainly easy (and right!) to blame busybody Nader* and his Public Citizen minions for this, but these nannies would not have the ability to force their values and desires onto the rest of us if it were not for the FDA.  The FDA that has the power to make it illegal for an adult to make a personal decision to balance risks and benefits of a chemical and put whatever the hell they want to into their own body.

[Thx: Hit and Run]

* Yeah, I voted for him in 2000. And I regret it now. To be more precise: I regret voting for Nader, I do not regret voting against those other two jackrods. At that time, I channeled my festering discontent with the political system into a naive faith in the potential for meaningful reform. I was under no illusion that Nader would win, but it was nice doing something about the problem (okay, feeling like I was doing something about the problem). I went to a couple rallies, volunteered at the local campaign headquarters making signs and get-out-the-vote calls, and even waved a sign at the corner of a busy intersection on election day. Good times.

Later, I learned more details (from various sources both neutral and unsympathetic to him) about the various things that Ralph Nader actually did in the past, how they were accomplished, and his various hypocrisies. I became less impressed with him, but still considered him a well-intentioned guy with the best interests of the public at heart. Later still, as my own ideas about the role of the government, collectivism vs individualism, and personal liberty evolved I came to view Nader as a well-intentioned nannyfascist out to coerce the rest of us to conform his way of thinking, for our own good.

I totally have to give him props for the Freedom of Information Act, though. That's a pretty cool legacy. It could be argued that the good of the FOIA might overshadow his general priggishness and the damage his other projects have caused. Or, maybe not.

P.S. If it bothers you that Nader was a "spoiler" who "sucked votes away from", and prevented "your guy" from "getting elected", grow some gonads and field a candidate worth voting for.

P.P.S. That sounded really defensive, didn't it? I should dig out my t-shirt that shows a donkey humping an elephant and an elephant humping a donkey, and reads "SAME F*CKING DIFFERENCE". I will clutch it to my chest and remember the days when my cynicism was a small burning knot in my stomach, inspiring purposeful action.  The days before that knot metastasized into the spine-crushing, bowel-clogging mass of dashed hopes and resentment that makes me the bitter crank I am today.