Even though I’m a chiropractic doctor in San Diego that promotes alternative medicine, like it or not, some health crises require medication. The question is, just how safe are your prescription pills? Your physician prescribes them and they are FDA (Food and Drug Administration) approved. But are they safe? Studies show that you may not be as safe as you would like to be! No drugs – not even aspirin is 100% safe. Whether you realize it or not, whenever you take a drug, you are weighing the potential benefits against the possibility that the medicine can hurt you.

For example, Celebrex is a prescription drug for arthritis. Many people suffer from this condition. When information was released in August 2001 that Celebrex and a well known painkiller known as Vioxx may be associated with an increased risk of heart attack, users’ reactions ranged from nervous to extremely alarmed. Why are some medications still on the market if they pose such a potential health threat to the consumers?

A drug’s safety remains uncertain until it has been on the market for many years. Maryann Napoli, Associate Director of the Center for Medical Consumers in New York City, states in her Health Facts Report that the FDA requires tests before any prescription drug goes on the market. But tests typically last no longer than six months. Not only is the drug testing periods short, but possible negative side effects of prescription drugs are often determined in only tiny groups of people.

Drug companies also often publicize a drug well before all of its potential side effects are known. A study was reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). This study tracked the new warnings and recalls of prescription drugs after they became available to the public. Nearly 1 out of 5 new prescription drugs caused a serious side effect that wasn’t apparent during the testing phase of the drug. Therefore, whenever you take a prescription or even some non-prescription medication, you are part of the scientific process. This is the data collection phase. The longer the experiment runs the more certain you can be of the results based on cumulative data acquired.

The study reported in journal of the American medical association also confirmed the insufficiency of the post-market reporting system for adverse drug reactions. Here is why this occurred. Physicians and hospitals under-report adverse drug reactions under the voluntary organization run by the Food and Drug Administration says a research study from the section of Health and Human Services’ Inspector General. Between June 1997and May 1998, of the 13,825 unfavorable drug reaction information submitted to the FDA, just 2,083 of them came from the nation’s estimated 740,000 physicians.

So, How Often Does A New Medication Get Pulled Off The Market? Karen E. Lasser, MD of Harvard Medical School and colleagues evaluated 548 prescription drugs approved by the FDA between 1975 and 1999. They found that 20% had been ether withdrawn or received new “black box” warnings (warnings required by the FDA to be placed on drug packaging that indicate potentially severe or life-threatening side effects) about serious adverse effects. But Dr. Lasser and her colleagues observed that only half of all newly discovered serious adverse drug reactions are detected and documented in the Physicians’ Desk Reference within seven years after drug approval. Some of the drugs in this study initially had black box warnings and were later pulled off the market as more adverse effects were reported.

The antacid, Propulsid, for example, was on the market six years before being withdrawn because it had harmful effects on the heart when taken with some other drugs. Another withdrawn drug, the antihistamine Terfenadine, was prescribed for 12 years until a similar problem was identified.

If you ever have any questions or concerns about your health, you can contact New Century Spine Centers in San Diego at 619-630-9153.You must be able to protect you from the dangers of drugs. Be sure to ask your physician how long the drug has been on the market. Try not to be one of the first people to suffer a previously unknown side effect of a drug. If you must take a prescription medicine, opt for one that stood the test of time. Ask your physician about drug interactions that may occur. If you are currently taking any other medications, ask if they will react adversely to the new one. Also consider alternative therapies to treat your condition. Some drugs have the potential to save thousands of lives or relieve untold suffering, but the trick is in figuring out which ones and how to use them wisely!

Learn more about health. Stop by the back pain website site where you can get free information about spinal decompression and what it can do for you.

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