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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 Food and Drug Administration approved. But are they safe? Studies show that you may not be as safe as you would like to be! 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. When information was released in August 2001 that Celebrex and Vioxx might be associated with an increased risk of heart attack, users reactions ranged from nervous to seriously alarmed.

Why are some prescription pills on the market if they pose such a potential health threat to their consumers? Maryann Napoli, Associate Director of the Center for Medical Consumers in New York area, states in her Health Facts Report that the FDA requires exams before any prescription drug goes on the market. But tests typically last no longer than six months. Consequently, a drug’s safety remains uncertain until it has been on the market for many years. Not only is the drug testing periods short, but possible negative side effects of prescription drugs are often determined in only small groups of people.

Pharmacy companies also often report a new drug before all of its side effects are well known to them. A study was reported in the Journal of the AMA that followed the new warnings and recalls of prescribed medication after they became available. Nearly one out of five new prescription drugs caused a problem side effect that was not seen during the testing phase. Whenever you take a drug you are part of the research process that is taking place. This is the data collection phase during the study. The longer the experiment runs the more certain you can be of the results based on cumulative data.

The study reported in the journal of the American Medical Association also stated the inadequacy of the post-market reporting system for adverse pill reactions. This is because physicians and hospitals under report adverse drug reactions under the voluntary system run by the Food and Drug Administration, says a study from the Department of Health and Human Services’ Inspector General. Between 1997 and 1998, of the 13,825 adverse drug reactions cited submitted to the FDA, just 2,083 of them came from the nation’s estimated 740,000 physicians.

So, how often does a new drug get removed off the market? Karen E. Lasser, MD of Harvard Med School and colleagues evaluated 548 prescription medications approved by the FDA between 1975 and 1999. They found that twenty percent 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 problems) about serious adverse effects.

But Dr. Lasser and her medical colleagues observed that only fifty percent 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. For example, The antacid, Propulsid was on the market 6 years before being withdrawn because it had harmful effects on the heart when taken with some other drugs. This caused more problems. And as another example, another withdrawn drug, the antihistamine Terfenadine, was prescribed for twelve years until a similar problem was identified.

Here’s how to protect yourself from problems. Ask your physician how long the drug has been on the market. Don’t be one of the first people to suffer a previously unknown side effect of a drug. If you must take a prescription drug, opt for one that is tried and true. Ask your physician about drug interactions. If you are currently taking any other medications, ask if they will react adversely to the new one.

Also to consider is alternative treatment to treat your condition. Alternative treatments such as chiropractic, cold laser therapy, and spinal decompression, can be researched by going to the New Century Spine Centers website. They are located in San Diego. Many 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 research. Stop by New Century Spine Centers site where you can find out all about alternative medicine and what it can do for you.