It hardly did anything, save for fucking up my taste/smell.

I hear that takes 6 months. TBH, assuming you don't die, that's kind of like the worst of the "more than likely" things that could happen.

The problem is that they've seemed to construe to the general populace that the facts of life are to be eliminated at all costs.

It's the classic authoritarian move: present a false choice between freedom and safety, while actually denying both.