Basic Trope: A medical procedure that also causes damage to a patient.
- Straight: Bob takes a medicine, and after a while, his sickness is subdued, but he develops a serious itching skin rash.
- Exaggerated: Bob takes a medicine, feels a little bit better... and then his arms begin to rot.
- Downplayed: Bob has an infection and he needs to take antibiotic pills to heal it. After a week, he has a diarrhea.
- Justified:
- Bob learns he is allergic to that medicine.
- Or Bob is genetically predisposed to such a reaction, and no one knew.
- This is an experimental medicine, and Bob is participating in clinical trials. For some reason, the medicine passed the pre-clinical stage, yet no luck in this case.
- The medicine's box reads: "Side effects may include: rash, skin itching...".
- This medicine is from a contaminated batch.
- The medicine's shelf life is overdue, and who knows what will happen if it's taken.
- The medicine causes lesser damage than the ailment, but it's still prescription-only for a reason.
- The medicine causes such a reaction when taken together with another medicine that Bob is also taking. In other situations, it should work just fine.
- The dosage was too high.
- Bob was misdiagnosed and the medicine needs the ailment to be present to be safe for consumption/application.
- Read the Freaking Manual, it clearly states that it's topical medicine, drinking it is just asking for it.note
- Inverted: Bob, a limping war veteran, takes a stomach pill. It has no effect, but his leg feels better.
- Subverted: Afraid of a big, elaborate list of after-effects on a medicine's box, Bob takes a pill. Nothing happens...
- Double Subverted: ...until he wakes up in the middle of the night with all his body itching.
- Parodied:
- "My stomach does not hurt anymore! It's a miaaaeeeeeergh...", with the sound of Bob's lower jaw hitting the floor.
- Goawayyoufingcold pills do cure the common cold, but their side effects are so long-lasting and awful that no one in their right mind would choose to endure them instead of just dealing with the cold.
- Zig Zagged: Bob and Charlie both take pills. Bob develops a rash, Charlie does not.
- Enforced: Bob is a protagonist of an Edutainment Show, and this episode is supposed to teach kids that not every medicine is good for everyone.
- Averted: The medicine has no significant side effects.
- Lampshaded: "Do you remember that time you got boils after that pill?" "Ah, yeah, I remember some pills that did gave me itches, but not that harsh."
- Invoked: Bob is really sick, and said pills are the best (or the only) option for him. So he takes them and then suffers from rash.
- Exploited: Bob slips a medicine to his love rival Charlie when he gets sick, so he could finally woo Alice.
- Defied: Bob decides to choose less risky medicine - or not take any medicine at all.
- Discussed: Bob mentions that he's thoroughly reading the medicine's manual because he's afraid of nasty side effects.
- Conversed: Bob talks about how an episode of a medical drama series ended with Peter the patient dying of the side effects of his treatment.
- Implied: "By the way, do you have any medicine allergies? I need to know."
- Deconstructed:
- People refuse to buy this particular medicine, and pharmacological companies suffer some damage.
- Bob is traumatized after suffering from life-threatening side effects.
- Reconstructed:
- Some years later, the altered formula passes clinical trials, is put to the market with another name, and is more gentle in the side effects department.
- Later, an epidemic starts, and the said medicine is the only cure. So, people have nothing to do, but to buy and suffer from rash.
- Played For Laughs: Bob takes a antidepressant pill, and not only does he feel better, he also can't stop laughing like a hyena for two hours.
- Played For Drama: Bob's sudden rash attack ruins his date.
- Player for Horror: Bob has a horrible terminal illness. The only cure for his illness gives him a very violent disposition and badly deforms his body.
Take this pill to get to the unabridged version, but be careful, it will ruin your life!
