# Doctor prescribed a medicine that is being phased out ...

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-prescribed-a-medicine-that-is-being-phased-out/610865>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [January 27, 2012, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-prescribed-a-medicine-that-is-being-phased-out/610865 "2012-01-27T15:22:27Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![shijinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@shijinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shijinn)\
**Post date:** [January 27, 2012, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-prescribed-a-medicine-that-is-being-phased-out/610865/1 "2012-01-27T15:22:27Z")

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… by the government and manufacturer because "there is no substantive scientific evidence to support the classification of serratiopeptidase as a medicinal product. "

what should i do? should i take it anyway or what? Life is simpler without Google.

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**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\
**Post date:** [January 27, 2012, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doctor-prescribed-a-medicine-that-is-being-phased-out/610865/2 "2012-01-27T15:32:50Z")

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Well, I’ll admit I’m no expert, but from a cursory glance it appears to fall firmly into the “alternative medicine” camp, which means it almost certainly doesn’t work. It’s not quite as “woo-ish” as homeopathic remedies, since it is actually a _thing_ and not just water, but it still doesn’t look like it actually does anything when compared to a placebo.

I’d suggest asking your doctor for an alternative anti-inflammatory, either prescription or over-the-counter. He might not be aware that it is being phased out…I’d also look into a new doctor, if he’s prescribing “medicine” that has no scientific evidence of efficacy.