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Worst Pills, Best Pills Newsletter Articles

Accidental Child Poisoning From Medications: A Growing Epidemic
(February 2012) [View the entire February 2012 issue in PDF format]
What kinds of prescription and over-the-counter products are responsible for the unintentional ingestion of these drugs by children? Such poisonings result in the hospitalization, admission to intensive care units and injury of thousands of children a year. How can they be prevented?
Overuse of Antibiotics in Children
(February 2012) [View the entire February 2012 issue in PDF format]
A very recent study found that each year, children in this country get 10 million antibiotic prescriptions that are clearly unnecessary, creating risks of adverse reactions without any possible benefit.
Fenofibric Acid (TRILIPIX) May Not Lower Heart Attack/Stroke Risk
(February 2012) [View the entire February 2012 issue in PDF format]
Over 15.2 million prescriptions were filled in 2010 for the brand-name or generic versions of two essentially identical drugs (fenofibrate [TRICOR] and fenofibric acid [TRILIPIX]) that clearly do not add any benefits to taking statin drugs alone but add to the risks.
Update: ‘Removal of Dr. Wolfe From FDA Advisory Committee Meeting Is Bad Policy’
(February 2012) [View the entire February 2012 issue in PDF format]
Shortly after allowing our editor only allotted time to present his views during the public session of an FDA committee meeting discussing the drugs YAZ and YASMIN, the FDA reconsidered and said he could participate as a committee member but would not be allowed to vote at the meeting. Ultimately, Dr. Wolfe participated as a nonvoting member, under protest.
Increased Prostate Cancer Risk With Vitamin E Supplements
(February 2012) [View the entire February 2012 issue in PDF format]
A recent study shows there is significant harm from using widely advertised vitamin E dietary supplements. Not surprisingly, the study was not funded by vitamin E manufacturers but by the U.S. National Institutes of Health.
Inadvertent Adverse Reactions With Commonly Used Drugs
(January 2012) [View the entire January 2012 issue in PDF format]
Find out how to prevent emergency hospitalizations from two commonly used drugs, warfarin (COUMADIN) and clopidogrel (PLAVIX). There are approximately 33,000 emergency hospitalizations a year from warfarin alone. This article includes a list of more than 50 drugs that can have harmful interactions with warfarin and/or clopidogrel.
Removal of Dr. Wolfe From FDA Advisory Committee Meeting Is Bad Policy
(January 2012) [View the entire January 2012 issue in PDF format]
Read about how the Worst Pills, Best Pills News editor was not allowed to vote on the safety of a big-selling drug because he thought it was unsafe.
Quetiapine (SEROQUEL) Drug Interactions and Heart Trouble
(December 2011) [View the entire December 2011 issue in PDF format]
Find out about 12 drugs that can interact with widely prescribed quetiapine -- 12 million prescriptions sold in 2010 -- to cause serious, sometimes fatal, heart arrhythmias.
More Patients Being Ripped off by Pay-for-Delay
(December 2011) [View the entire December 2011 issue in PDF format]
Patients pay more when brand-name drug companies legally "bribe" generic companies to delay the selling of less expensive products.
New Drug Interaction With Widely Used Antibacterial Drug and Common Diuretic
(December 2011) [View the entire December 2011 issue in PDF format]
Find out how using a combination of two commonly prescribed drugs (a total of 30 million prescriptions filled annually in the U.S.) can cause life-threatening increases in blood potassium, a risk that has led to hospitalization.
Saw Palmetto Extract: Ineffective for Enlarged Prostate Symptoms
(December 2011) [View the entire December 2011 issue in PDF format]
Read about the results of a study comparing higher doses of saw palmetto extract with a placebo for treating some common symptoms of benign prostate enlargement (such as urinary retention and incomplete emptying of the bladder).
Bladder Cancer Warning for Pioglitazone (ACTOS)
(November 2011) [View the entire November 2011 issue in PDF format]
Find out the full list of serious problems with pioglitazone (ACTOS) that cause it to be a DO NOT USE drug, of which bladder cancer is but the latest.
Dangerously Blind Faith in Drug Advertising and the FDA Drug-Approval Process
(November 2011) [View the entire November 2011 issue in PDF format]
Learn about the results of a study concerning people's faith in the validity of the FDA drug-approval process and in the agency's restrictions on drug advertising.
Proton Pump Inhibitors: Dangerous and Habit-Forming Heartburn Drugs
(November 2011) [View the entire November 2011 issue in PDF format]
PPIs are now one of the most widely used classes of prescription drugs, with an estimated one out of every 20 people in the developed world currently taking one of these medications. However, given that recent research shows PPIs may be habit-forming, that the majority of PPI use is probably inappropriate, with minimal or no benefit to the patient, and that new, life-threatening risks with long-term therapy are continually emerging, it is time for the medical community to re-evaluate the role of PPIs in everyday practice.

Additional Information from Public Citizen

Letter to FDA Opposing Approval of Loxapine Inhalation Powder (Adasuve) (January 23, 2012)
Public Citizen’s Health Research Group strongly opposes FDA approval of loxapine (Adasuve) inhalation powder for treatment of schizophrenia or bipolar I disorder in adults due to no evidence from clinical trials that it offers any benefits over currently-available treatments and that it can cause life-threatening pulmonary toxicity.
Testimony on Ethinyl Estradiol/Norelgestromin (Ortho-Evra) (HRG Publication #1989) (December 9, 2011)
If the Ortha Evra patch has no unique benefits and, relative to equally effective oral contraceptives with lower estrogen doses, has a higher risk of blood clots, there is no reason to leave it on the market. Although prescriptions have dropped markedly in the past seven years, more than a million prescriptions a year are still filled for the patch. Women using these prescriptions are at increased risk with no significant, documented benefit.
Removal of Consumer Advocate From Dec. 8 Advisory Committee Meeting Is Bad Policy (HRG Publication #1987) (December 6, 2011)
Less than 48 hours from the beginning of Thursday’s Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advisory committee meeting to discuss the risks of blood clots from the birth control pills Yaz and Yasmin, Health Research Group director Dr. Wolfe was notified in a phone call from FDA’s Office of Advisors and Consultants that he could not participate as a member of the Drug Safety and Risk Management Advisory Committee in that meeting because of what the agency calls his “intellectual conflict of interest.”
Statement: FDA’s Rejection of Public Citizen’s Petition to Ban Rosiglitazone (Avandia) Translates to More Harm to Patients (HRG Publication #1985) (November 22, 2011)
Late yesterday, the FDA faxed Public Citizen its letter rejecting our October 30, 2008 petition in which we asked the FDA to ban rosiglitazone (Avandia) because its benefits were greatly outweighed by its multiple risks, including increased heart attacks, heart failure, fractures, vision-threatening macular edema and other serious problems.