I am one of the people who suffer from long-term (6 months and counting) effects from four tablets 

How are you doing, BTW? I want an update! 

We estimated that FQs are prescribed about 35 MILLION times per year.  Since some people get more than one prescription per year, this represents maybe 30 million individuals.

The trick is estimating how many individuals will experience serious ADRs over the course of a lifetime. The true incidence might be shocking enough to draw public attention. But with drug companies controlling 100% of the research, that number is not likely to see the light of day.