"We expect to see more short-term palliatives than any sort of significant shift in policy, " Mr. Freedman said.

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The antiviral drugs now on offer are palliatives, not cures.

ECONOMIST: AIDS

"Wild Medicine" (it has a jawbreaker of a subtitie: "Healing Plants Around the World Featuring the Italian Renaissance Garden") traces the history of plants as palliatives and prescriptions while making abundantly clear that their use for what ails you is hardly a thing of the past.

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Such actions are palliatives.

ECONOMIST: Food