Who hasn’t chuckled at a TV prescription drug ad, during its litany of wide-ranging potential side effects? Anal leakage and the oft-repeated erections lasting more than four hours? With direct-to-consumer marketing, product overstatements of health benefits with simultaneous minimization of possible harms have become the norm. Now, the FDA wants to change that.
prescription drugs
Citing prescription drugs as a contributing factor to his recent DUI arrest, Tiger Woods' experience sheds light on the need to educate about impaired driving as a public health concern. The American Automobile Association (AAA) reports "prescription drugs are the most prevalent of all drugs found in drugged drivers involved in fatal crashes." Whether legally or illegally obtained, substances can impair a driver.
In a state where there are more pain management clinics than McDonald’s restaurants, Florida seems to be the epicenter of the prescription painkiller addiction epidemic. In response, the Sunshine State has been enacting laws, which have helped to more closely monitor drug distribution and combat the problem.
Bad news from the CDC according to the July 23rd issue of the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, a quarter of Americans expect an antibiotic prescription when they visit the doctor for a cold. Antibiotics do not fight viral infections like the common cold which is a
It is difficult to ignore a new report released Wednesday by a St. Louis based prescription drug manager, Express Scripts. The data highlights a glaring reality: a near doubling in attention deficit
An article in the Oct. 12th New York Times takes an astounding 3800 words to make one point: Drug companies are charging much more (too much?) for their products in the U.S. compared to other parts of the world.
Despite the fact that all medications including natural remedies and over-the counter drugs carry some degree of risk, our desire to avoid risk tends to be especially intense when it comes to prescription drugs. We simply dont know what information to trust. And who can blame us when consumer advocates, politicians, and trial lawyers are quick to capitalize on the latest sensational media headlines alleging that your medications may be unsafe?
Our aversion to risk is particularly intense when it comes to prescription drugs. The extravagant language used in newspaper headlines, examples of which will be discussed shortly, causes anxious patients to toss their pills away, so-called consumer advocates and government whistle-blowers to blast the drug manufacturers and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for malfeasance, and politicians to call for Congressional hearings.