If aspirin were being considered as a drug today, would it ever pass FDA tests? It does lots of great stuff, but it's also got lots of nasty side effects (I'm not allowed to take it, due to its effect on my Crohn's disease).
Plenty of FDA-approved drugs have nasty side effects. Isotretinoin will cause such massive birth defects that usually a doctor will get a female user to sign an agreement that she won't get pregnant while taking it.
It has a number of other significant side effects - for me, marked loss of physical strength, plus delicate skin susceptible to sunburn while taking it. But the 6-month course was worth it - cleared up my facial acne to an incredible degree. I had simply gotten used to the fact that my face was always in pain. Now I still get the odd pimple (like most people), but nothing like the boils I used to get.
