Search results below include Worst Pills, Best Pills Newsletter Articles where your
selected drug is a primary subject of discussion.
February 2024
Proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) reduce the amount of stomach acid. They are available by prescription and over the counter, and their use has increased in recent years. Although PPIs are generally safe for short-term use, they have serious long-term risks.
June 2023
Patients taking the stomach-acid-suppressing drug rabeprazole (ACIPHEX) should be aware that it has clinically important interactions with many other prescription medications. Public Citizen’s Health Research Group has designated rabeprazole, a protein pump inhibitor, as Limited Use.
March 2023
Patients taking the widely prescribed hypothyroidism drug levothyroxine should be aware that it has clinically important interactions with many other prescription and over-the-counter medications, dietary supplements and even certain foods.
June 2021
Results of recently published studies suggest that use of the potent stomach-acid–suppressing proton inhibitor medications in children may lead to small increases in the risks of fractures and asthma.
February 2021
Magnesium deficiency, due to either inadequate dietary intake, impaired intestinal absorption or excessive urinary loss of the mineral, results in low blood magnesium levels — a condition known as hypomagnesemia — and a wide range of adverse health effects. Importantly, many commonly used drugs also can cause magnesium depletion.
December 2019
Read our response to a reader who asked whether the drug pantoprazole (PROTONIX), which suppresses stomach acid, could have caused a false-positive urine screening test result for tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) — the chemical responsible for most of marijuana’s psychological effects.
July 2019
Learn why the widely used proton pump inhibitors should be reserved for certain patients with stomach-acid disorders and only taken at the lowest possible dose for the shortest possible duration needed.
January 2019
Read about the many prescription and over-the-counter medications that can interact in dangerous ways with clopidogrel, a widely used anti-platelet drug.
November 2018
Read about the numerous medications that can interact with digoxin, a drug commonly prescribed for heart failure and atrial fibrillation. These interactions can result in either digoxin toxicity or decreased digoxin effectiveness depending on the other drug being used concomitantly.
July 2016
Public Citizen's Health Research Group has long warned about the serious risks of the commonly used group of heartburn drugs known as proton pump inhibitors. In this article, we discuss new research suggesting that chronic kidney disease is another potential side effect of these drugs.
February 2015
After a more than three-year delay and a Public Citizen lawsuit filed against the FDA, the agency finally responded to our petition for stronger label warnings on a class of medications, known as proton pump inhibitors, commonly used to treat heartburn. This article discusses the new warnings that the FDA has required in response to our petition.
November 2011
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.
September 2011
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.
January 2011
This article discusses the dangerous interactions that can occur when using methotrexate (TREXALL) with certain other drugs. See our list of 27 drugs you should never take with methotrexate.
August 2010
The article reviews evidence that patients 50 years old or older who take proton pump inhibitors (PPIs -- a list of the six approved ones is in the article) or use them for a year or more may be at increased risk of fractures of the hip, wrist and spine. Since much of the use of these drugs is inappropriate and unnecessarily dangerous, the article discusses pharmacologic and non-pharmacologic alternatives to PPIs.
March 2008
This article reviews evidence for the international epidemic of overuse of proton pump inhibitors (PPI),
drugs used to treat ulcers and gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). There were 70 million prescriptions filled in U.S. pharmacies in 2006 for the four leading PPI drugs: esomeprazole (NEXIUM), lansoprazole (PREVACID), pantoprazole (PROTONIX) and rabeprazole (ACIPHIX). Find out about several serious side effects of these drugs such as increased community-acquired pneumonia, increased hip fractures and acute kidney inflammation. Learn about alternatives to using PPIs.
September 2003
DO NOT stop taking any of the drugs listed in the table without first consulting your physician.
You should report any alteration in your sense of taste to your physician if you are taking a drug.
Login
Subscribe