What's in an Apricot?: The Seeds of Life and Death

Abstract

Many complex issues arise when evaluating the ramifications of the FDA's treatment of Laetrile. While the implications of the strife created by Laetrile have much farther reaching effects regarding FDA's treatment of specialized procedures for life-threatening ailments and drugs, this paper will not explore the broader elaborate issues involving such experimental drugs or the extended history of the various products that this controversy has evolved around. Instead, this paper is limited in scope to the competing interests among the government, the doctors, the patients, and the general public, and the proper means of balancing these interests to derive the greatest benefit to all Furthermore, the relation of this controversy to the issues elicited in debates over the "right to die" and the foundational basis of death with dignity will be examined.