Recent Postings

Learn why we have designated St. John’s wort, an herbal dietary supplement that is commonly available in capsules, tablets or teas, as Do Not Use.

In his editor’s column, Dr. Michael Carome highlights a new Public Citizen report that provided a glimpse of how much Big Pharma benefits from the American health care system overpaying for drugs.

The FDA issued a Drug Safety Communication warning that abuse and misuse of the over-the-counter nasal decongestant drug propylhexedrine, a stimulant, can cause serious harm, including heart and mental health problems.

In this article, we review results of a recent randomized trial that found vitamin D supplementation was not useful for preventing depression in relatively healthy adults.

In this article, we review the process for diagnosing attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children and adolescents and evaluate the available treatment options for managing it.

In this month’s news brief, we discuss the FDA’s recent waring that over-the-counter alcohol-based hand sanitizers, especially if used in enclosed spaces or poorly ventilated locations, can cause headaches, nausea and dizziness.

Learn about the health benefits of consuming an adequate amount of dietary potassium. To help readers assess their potassium intake, we offer a list of potassium-rich foods.

In his editor’s column, Dr. Michael Carome explains why you should mute your TV when you see ads for the dietary supplement apoaequorin (PREVAGEN) and avoid being duped into buying this worthless supplement.

Patients taking the oral antifungal drug itraconazole (SPORANOX, TOLSURA) should be aware that it has clinically important interactions with many other prescription medications that can affect the safety or effectiveness of itraconazole or the interacting drugs.

In this article, we discuss the results of a randomized clinical trial that compared low- and regular-dose aspirin for preventing another heart attack or stroke in patients with known atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease.

Patients often wonder what steps they can take to minimize their chances of suffering a serious adverse drug reaction. This article reviews 10 simple rules developed by Public Citizen’s Health Research Group for ensuring safer drug use.

Patients taking bisphosphonates need to know that these drugs are associated with a wide range of potentially serious adverse effects.

Finally, after months of foot-dragging, the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General has heeded our call for an investigation into the unprecedented and inappropriately close collaboration between Biogen and the FDA during the analysis of data from the key clinical trials of aducanumab (ADUHELM) for treatment of Alzheimer’s disease, which dangerously compromised the integrity of the FDA’s review of the drug.

Learn about some of the commonly used medications that may lead to hair loss, also known as alopecia.

In this article, we discuss new research showing that prolonged use of acetaminophen at recommended dosages in conjunction with excessive drinking or fasting may lead to catastrophic liver failure.

Patients taking the commonly used stomach-acid–suppressing drugs lansoprazole (PREVACID, PREVACID 24 HR) and dexlansoprazole (DEXILANT) should be aware that these drugs have clinically important interactions with many other prescription medications.