That rule has abruptly changed. You're going to hear more talk about what scientists think medicines might be able to do. Where the side effects of a medicine are high, and where good alternatives are available, doctors and patients will want to exercise caution until the final experiments conclude. But where alternatives do not exist, where something is better than nothing, the Caronia ruling offers hope for a more transparent drug-approval regime.

Nothing is certain until the Supreme Court weighs in. But it's looking likelier that freer speech is coming to American medicine.

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