Worst Pills, Best Pills

An expert, independent second opinion on more than 1,800 prescription drugs, over-the-counter medications, and supplements

paroxetine (PAXIL, PAXIL CR, PEXEVA)


E-ALERTS

Search results below include E-Alerts where your selected drug is a secondary subject of discussion.


DRUG AND DIETARY SUPPLEMENT PROFILES

A comprehensive review of the safety and effectiveness of this drug. If the drug is not a Do Not Use product, information on adverse effects, drug interactions and how to use the medication are included.
Search results below include Drug and Dietary Supplement Profiles where your selected drug is a secondary subject of discussion.

paroxetine mesylate (BRISDELLE)
  • We list this drug as Do Not Use because it has questionable benefits for women with hot flashes but carries well-established risks, including depression.
dexmethylphenidate (FOCALIN, FOCALIN XR)
  • We list this drug as a Do Not Use drug because it has no advantage over similar drugs with longer safety records.
sibutramine (MERIDIA)
  • We list this drug as a Do Not Use drug because it causes very limited weight loss and also causes high blood pressure and increased heart rate.
thioridazine (MELLARIL)
  • We list this drug as a Do Not Use drug because it is more likely to cause irregular heartbeat than related drugs.

WORST PILLS, BEST PILLS NEWSLETTER ARTICLES

Search results below include Worst Pills, Best Pills Newsletter Articles where your selected drug is a secondary subject of discussion.

Postmenopausal Women Should Not Use the Conjugated Estrogens and Bazedoxifene Combination (DUAVEE)
January 2021
We previously designated Duavee as “Do Not Use for Seven Years” because, at the time of its approval by the FDA in 2013, it did not represent a clear clinical breakthrough over standard hormone replacement therapy for postmenopausal women. Learn why we have now updated our designation of the drug to Do Not Use.
Do Not Use Paroxetine (BRISDELLE) for Treatment of Hot Flashes
March 2020
Learn why women should avoid using BRISDELLE, the first and only nonhormonal drug approved by the FDA for treatment of hot flashes associated with menopause.
Study Bolsters Evidence Linking Menopausal Hormone Therapy to Breast Cancer
March 2020
New research linking menopausal hormone use to an increased risk of breast cancer reaffirms the importance of using such hormone therapies at the lowest effective dose and for the shortest duration needed.
Nebivolol (BYSTOLIC): Limited Use for Hypertension
April 2018
When the beta blocker nebivolol was approved by the FDA in 2007, we advised readers not to use the drug until 2015, in accordance with our seven-year rule. Find out why we now have designated nebivolol as Limited Use and whether it is the right choice for treating hypertension.
Meclizine: A Risky and Possibly Ineffective Drug
March 2018
Meclizine is a drug that is commonly used to treat symptoms of motion sickness. Find out why we have designated this drug as Do Not Use.
Year in Review: Troubling New Drug Approvals of 2013
March 2014
Learn about new drugs approved by the FDA in 2013 that Worst Pills Best Pills has identified as dangerous or ineffective. The drugs include two for diabetes, two for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and an over-the-counter drug for overactive bladder, among others.
Do Not Use Paroxetine (BRISDELLE) For Treatment of Hot Flashes
January 2014
A newly marketed drug for treating hot flashes of menopause, BRISDELLE, is a lower dose of the familiar antidepressant PAXIL. This article discusses its risks and barely-evident effectiveness.
Smoking Cessation: What Works and What Doesn’t
September 2012
The article reviews the effectiveness and safety of a variety of drugs and strategies to help people stop smoking but also stresses the importance of interpersonal support for those trying to quit this deadly habit.
Drug Mix-Ups
June 2011
This article lists 355 drugs with names that are often confused with similar-sounding drug names. Find out what you can do to prevent getting the wrong drug.
Watch Out for Interactions with Tamoxifen (NOLVADEX)
March 2009
Tamoxifen (NOLVADEX) is still widely and successfully used for treatment of breast cancer. However, when used along with certain other drugs, its effectiveness can be significantly reduced. The article explains how this can happen and lists 19 different drugs that can cause this serious problem if used with tamoxifen.
Dangers of Mixing Alcohol with Certain Medications or Diseases
August 2008
The article discusses 273 drugs that can have harmful interactions with alcohol. Also reviewed are several ways in which these harmful interactions can occur: 1/ Medications Can Increase Alcohol Blood Levels 2/ Additive effects of medications and alcohol. One of the best- known drug-alcohol interactions is when alcohol, a depressant, is taken with other sedative medications, and excessive sedation or depression of respiration can occur 3/Alcohol can increase the blood levels of some medications leading to toxicity of these drugs. 4/ Alcohol also can reduce blood levels of some medications causing them to be less effective. Although some of the interactions between alcohol and medications mainly occur in people who drink heavily (three or more drinks on one occasion), many of these interactions may occur with much lower amounts of alcohol use, such as one to two drinks on an occasion. We strongly urge you to tell your physicians and other health care providers how much alcohol you are drinking so they can effectively assess the risks and advise you about the safe use of alcohol and medications.
Codeine: The Drug With Multiple Personalities
June 2008
Codeine is routinely converted to morphine in the body in order for it to be an effective painkiller. The metabolism of codeine to morphine takes place through the actions of an enzyme in the liver. The article explains how various drugs and or a person's genetic makeup can greatly influence the conversion of codeine to morphine, making its pain-relieving properties too week if not enough conversion occurs and resulting in what amounts to an overdose at the recommended dose if the conversion to morphine is too rapid. Fourteen drugs that inhibit the conversion to morphine are listed in the article.
Drug Interactions: Warfarin (COUMADIN)
December 2007
This article explains how to understand the International Normalized Ratio (INR), a test applied to a sample of a patient’s blood to determine how “thin” it is when you are using the blood thinner COUMADIN (warfarin). In addition, the article lists more than 50 drugs or dietary supplements that can interact harmfully with COUMADIN to cause the blood to be too thin (abnormal bleeding) or not thin enough which could result in lessening the effect of COUMADIN in stopping blood clot formation.
Over-The-Counter Omeprazole (PRILOSEC OTC) — There Are Better Choices For Heartburn
October 2003
You should try the non-pharmacologic interventions listed in the box below before trying antacids, histamine-2 blockers, or, as a last resort, proton pump inhibitors. If you classify yourself as a person with frequent heartburn, that is heartburn more than two days per week, and the interventions recommended above have failed, you should be under the care of a physician
The Serotonin Syndrome: A Potentially Life-Threatening Adverse Drug Reaction — Fluoxetine (PROZAC), Escitalopram (LEXAPRO), Sibutramine (MERIDIA) And Other Drugs
September 2003
Canadian drug regulatory authorities reviewed reported cases of serotonin syndrome in the July 2003 issue of the Canadian Adverse Reaction Newsletter. The serotonin syndrome is a potentially life-threatening adverse drug reaction involving an excess of serotonin, a naturally occurring nerve transmitter.
Oxybutynin Patches (OXYTROL): A Grossly Overpriced Product For Overactive Bladder
July 2003
You should check the list of drugs that can cause loss of bladder control before starting drug treatment for this condition. You may be able to change from a drug that causes loss of bladder control to a drug that does not or alter the dose. This may be enough to solve the problem.
Do Not Use Until December 2009 The New Antipsychotic Drug Aripiprazole (ABILIFY)
June 2003
You should follow the Health Research Group’s Seven Year Rule with aripiprazole. There is no evidence to suggest that aripiprazole is a “breakthrough” drug.
Selling New Drugs Using Smoke and Mirror (Images)
March 2003
You should avoid these "new" single mirror images of old drugs, not out of concern about their safety or effectiveness, but because they are the same as the old drugs. In the long run, they cause economic harm both to individuals and to the health care system because they have come on the market with extended monopoly protection. Article lists some examples.
Do Not Use Until October 2005 Escitalopram (LEXAPRO) – The Sixth Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor (SSRI) Antidepressant
January 2003
Escitalopram (LEXAPRO) was approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in August 2002 and brings to six the number of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) antidepressants now on the market in the U.S. The primary purpose for developing escitalopram appears to be nothing more than a strategy to protect sales as citalopram nears the end of its patent protection. In the long run, escitalopram will cause economic harm to individuals and the healthcare system.
Do Not Use! Dexmethylphenidate (FOCALIN) - a Methylphenidate (RITALIN) Copy
August 2002
Dexmethylphenidate (FOCALIN), approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in November 2001 for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), joins a growing list of Do Not Use drugs, so called because they primarily result in economic harm to both individuals and the health care system. These drugs exist solely to extend a manufacturer’s brand name monopoly position in a lucrative market but offer nothing better than the drugs they replace.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION FROM PUBLIC CITIZEN

Search results below include Additional Information from Public Citizen where your selected drug is a secondary subject of discussion.

Testimony before the Senate Special Committee on Aging on The Impact of Direct-to-Consumer Drug Advertising on Seniors’ Health and Health Care Costs (HRG Publication #1751)
DTC advertising is nothing less than an end-run around the doctor-patient relationship – an attempt to turn patients into the agents of pharmaceutical companies as they pressure physicians for medications they may not need.
Statement before the National Academy of Sciences on the Framework for Evaluating the Safety of Dietary Supplements (HRG Publication #1594)
Since at the heart of this problem is the irrational legal distinction that has been made between those pharmacologically active chemicals which are regulated as prescription or over-the-counter drugs and those which others call dietary supplements which I call drug supplements, eventually the same standards for safety and effectiveness must be adopted.
Letter to the FDA concerning the United Kingdom's Committee on Safety of Medicine's recent warning about potentially serious drug interactions between St. John's Wort and a large number of other drugs. (HRG Publication #1513)
British physicians and patients are now being forcefully warned, for many more drugs than American physicians or patients, about potentially serious, clinically important drug interactions between the unregulated herbal St. John's Wort (Hypericum perforatum) and a large number of prescription drugs.
Comments on a Food and Drug Administration survey on the status of useful written prescription drug information for patients, requesting that it be redesigned. (HRG Publication #1512)
Because inadequate access to scientifically accurate drug information is a major cause of the inappropriate use of prescription drugs, resulting in serious personal injury to consumers and related costs to the healthcare system Public Citizen's Health Research Group strongly urges the following: