Metronidazole

METRONIDAZOLE provided the first effective cure for trichomoniasis, a disease that until 20 years ago was said to cause more suffering than cancer.1 The drug was placed under a cloud, however, when, after nearly 15 years of widespread use, attention was called to observations indicating that metronidazole was a mutagen of bacteria and an oncogen in animals.2 In this situation proved clinical benefits had to be reconciled with laboratory evidence that suggested human risk. The search for such a reconciliation cannot be avoided. Alternative therapies are either ineffective or use drugs with similar structures and similar laboratory properties.In judgments . . .