Patient Beware:
How to Learn More About Prescription Drugs

Story by Gwynne Marie Irvin

After nearly eight years of smoking, I recently decided to kick the habit. To help me withdraw from nicotine, my doctor prescribed an anti-smoking medication called Zyban, commonly known as the ‘magic pill.’

Unfortunately, 16 days after taking the recommended daily dosage, I ended up in the emergency room, covered in hives and seriously uncomfortable.

I got some shots, but 24 hours later I was back—this time with my face swollen and my eyes nearly closed shut. My throat was sore. My chest hurt when I took deep breaths. I eventually ended up bedridden with a case of walking pneumonia from a weakened immune system.

Misery Loves Company
As I later learned, I am by no means alone in suffering an adverse reaction to a prescription drug. In fact, each year, over 1.5 million people are hospitalized and more than 100,000 die as a result of the side effects of the 2 billion prescriptions written in the United States. Possible side effects of Zyban include seizures, convulsions, body tremors, confusion, skin rashes, joint pain, fever, anxiety, vomiting and insomnia.

Prescription drugs can be vital to maintaining good health and managing various diseases. That’s why the UAW negotiates drug coverage as part of employer-paid health plans, and why we are fighting for affordable prescription drug coverage for senior citizens. But as I learned the hard way, it’s important to be an educated consumer when it comes to your own health.

An excellent research tool for learning more about prescription drugs is Worst Pills, Best Pills: A Consumer’s Guide to Avoiding Drug-Induced Death or Illness, by Sidney M. Wolfe, M.D., Larry D. Sasich, Pharm.D, M.P.H, and Rose-Ellen Hope, R.Ph.

Wolfe is director of the Health Research Group of Public Citizen, a non-profit consumer advocacy group, and Sasich and Hope are pharmacists. Seven physicians with varying specialties also served as consultants to the authors.

Check Up on Your Doc
The book allows you to look up any medication your doctor recommends and find out what the possible adverse reactions are and what symptoms to look for once you start taking it. There’s a list of 160 pills you should never use and important information about drugs that should never be taken together.

One rule of thumb the authors recommend: “Wait at least five years from the date of release to take any new drug, unless it is one of those rare ‘breakthrough’ drugs that offers you a documented therapeutic advantage.”

“New drugs are tested in a relatively small number of people before being approved,” the authors warn, “and serious adverse effects or life-threatening drug interaction may not be detected until the new drug has been taken by hundreds of thousands of people.”

After my experience with Zyban, one thing is for sure: Next time I get a prescription, I’m going to do some reading before I open the bottle.