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Many consumers assume that if a physician prescribes a medication and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved its use, then it must be safe and effective. This is not always true. The government approval process is based on limited clinical studies commissioned by drug companies, and the FDA faces enormous political pressure from the highly profitable pharmaceutical industry to approve new drugs quickly. Some of these drugs are then heavily promoted to doctors and patients.

As a patient, you need unbiased information you can trust. That’s where the Public Citizen’s Health Research Group comes in. We are a nonprofit organization with no ties to drug companies or the government.

Dr. Sidney M. Wolfe founded the Health Research Group along with Ralph Nader in 1971 as a division of the premier consumer advocacy organization Public Citizen. Since that time, Wolfe has been raising the alarm about a wide variety of health risks – petitioning the government, testifying before Congress, alerting the news media and publishing consumer-friendly books and newsletters. He and Public Citizen have been responsible for the ban on cancer-causing Red Dye No. 2, the labeling of aspirin to prevent deadly Reye’s Syndrome in children with chicken pox or flu, stronger health standards for workers exposed to toxic chemicals, the removal of the arthritis medication Oraflex and other dangerous drugs from the market, and many other health improvements over the past three decades.

In 1988, Wolfe and Public Citizen published the first edition of the book “Worst Pills, Best Pills: A Consumer’s Guide to Avoiding Drug-Induced Death or Illness.”  Since that time, the book has sold more than 2.2 million copies. Now, we have updated the book, published a fourth edition and brought its contents to the web in an interactive format designed to help you quickly get the information you need.

What makes our information unique is that we go a step further than other web sites that offer standard information about drugs. We dig deep into FDA files – sometimes even suing the FDA to obtain information – and then we apply rigorous scientific analysis to identify drugs that are simply too dangerous or ineffective to take. For example, in 2001 we warned consumers about the dangers of the arthritis pain reliever Vioxx – a full three years before it was taken off the market because of evidence that it increased the risk of heart attacks. Vioxx was, in fact, the ninth drug removed from the market in the previous seven years that we warned consumers not to use.

In the book and on this web site, we analyze 538 prescription drugs, including 181 that consumers should avoid. We also recommend safer or less expensive alternatives.

Because Public Citizen is a nonprofit organization that accepts no money or advertising from corporations or the government, we are free to give you the best information possible about prescription drugs without fear of offending a sponsor. Our only goal is to help you become an alert, educated health consumer.