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I think it's pretty clear that when Allah forbade pork and alcohol, he was only referring to it as a food. If it's in medicine, then we don't consume the pork or alcohol for food purposes, but for medical purposes. That's different.

The Qur'an can be interpreted as such as well.

"Say: I find not in that which has been revealed to me anything forbidden to be eaten by one who wishes to eat it unless it be...the flesh of swine" (Qur'an 6:145)

"He hath forbidden for you only...the flesh of swine...But if one is forced by necessity, without willful disobedience nor transgressing, then Allah is indeed Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful" (Qur'an 16:115)

We can argue that...

#1: Consuming pork or alcohol for medical reasons only does not constitute "eating" or "wishing to eat" it unless one is only taking that medicine to somehow "trick" Allah. But if one is consuming the medicine simply for medical purposes, then that is different.

#2: Consuming pork or alcohol for medical reasons can constitute being "forced by necessity", as medicine is a necessity.

So, it seems that if one is given the option between 2 equally-performing medicines in which one contains pork/alcohol and the other doesn't, then choosing the pork/alcohol one might be considered a transgression. But if one is given the option of 1 medicine that works very well and contains pork/alcohol and 1 medicine that doesn't work nearly as well and doesn't contain pork/alcohol, then taking the pork/alcohol medication may count as being "forced by necessity" and not count as "wishing to eat."

Furthermore, we are told countless times in Hadith and Qur'an that Allah does not wish to place us under unnecessary hardship.

Allahu `alaam, as this is only my interpretation and I'm no sheikh.

And this is why we run into problems when we apply our 'aqal to these issues.

As I mentioned, anything can be called "medicine" since everything can be shown to have some sort of positive effect on our body - even things that we consider as poisons. You have to prove that taking medication is not the same as consumption because at even the basic physiological level, medication falls under the category of food. Even in the USA and many other countries, the agency that governs food safety also governs drug safety. The way medicines are absorbed by the body is the same way food is absorbed.

Furthermore - I don't know why this point isn't getting through - there are many halaal alternatives available for all the common medications we take. There are very few drugs whose halaal alternatives aren't available, such as heparin, which is derived from pork (but can be derived from cows, but it is usually pork and difficult to tell what the source is). Of course, every necessary drug becomes halaal when one's life is in danger and no alternative is available, but when there are, then there is no excuse for consuming haraam medicines.

You have to define what unnecessary hardship is, as well. For some people, not being able to eat meat is "unnecessary hardship" and they'll resort to eating haraam meats instead of switching to a vegetarian or seafood diet until they can get halaal meats. For others like Auzer, there is no haraam medicine, so if you cannot drink that codeine-based cough syrup when there are alcohol free cough syrups available, it is still an unnecessary hardship to make the switch.