@aescling @aschmitz @Lady did u kno its actually illegal in the us to put enough quinine in tonic water to effectively treat malaria

@Satsuma @aschmitz @Lady what

@aescling @aschmitz @Lady tonic water was invented as british military rations to treat malaria so they could colonize africa

@Satsuma @aschmitz @Lady w h a t

@Lady @aescling @aschmitz but the FDA thinks you need doctors supervision when consuming effective doses so they’ve told all the tonic water manufacturers to use a lot less than that

@aescling @Lady @aschmitz anyway they added the citrus flavors because they go well with bitter tastes and make the drink more palatable than just drinking corn syruped medicine

@Satsuma @Lady @aescling (As I understand it, this is also more or less the same reason Zofran isn't OTC: if you need it, the thinking goes that you should probably have a doctor figuring out what the heck is going on. Which on one hand, I get it, but on the other hand, when one wants Zofran, one doesn't want to be making emergency trips to the doctor and then pharmacy.)

@Lady @aescling @aschmitz i think zofran also can sometimes have side effects that make things worse, especially if someone takes a higher than recommended dose? but yeah its a pain

@Satsuma @aescling @Lady Weirdly enough, yes, but luckily we don't tend to need to work too hard to prevent malaria in the US.