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NEWS ABOUT: side effects

Drug Labels List an Average 70 Side Effects

Pharmaceutical companies trying to protect themselves from litigation

(Newser) - Take a gander at your typical prescription drug label, and you’ll see a lot more side effects than even the fastest talker could rattle off at the end of a commercial. The average label warns of a staggering 70 side effects, according to a new study that reviewed 5,... More »

Millions on Antidepressants ... Without Right Diagnosis

Patients may face side effects without benefits: researchers

(Newser) - More than a quarter of Americans on antidepressants haven’t been diagnosed with depression, anxiety order, or any other condition that the drugs are intended to treat, a study finds. That means millions could face side effects without getting the drugs’ benefits, a researcher tells Reuters . In surveys of more... More »

Medicaid Kids Given Antipsychotics 4X More

Seen as most effective treatment; counseling often goes by wayside

(Newser) - Kids on Medicaid rolls are prescribed antipsychotic drugs at an eye-popping rate four times that of kids with private insurance, federal data show, underlining how pills rather than counseling are often seen as the most efficient way to deal with underprivileged children. And not only are Medicaid kids receiving more... More »

Cervical Cancer Vaccine Linked to 32 Deaths

Teen-targeted Gardasil also tied to blood clots, fainting in gov't study

(Newser) - Gardasil, the cervical cancer vaccine marketed to teen girls, has been linked to 32 deaths and other serious side effects including fainting and blood clots, according to a government report released yesterday. Since 2006, several complications of the vaccine have been reported, ABC News reports, ranging from neurological disorders to... More »

Pharma Ghostwriters Penned Medical Papers on HRT

Drug firms may play bigger role than thought in medical lit

(Newser) - Ghostwriters funded by a drug firm were deeply involved in writing papers supporting therapies that helped the firm’s sales boom, court papers show. The 26 scientific papers, published in medical journals from 1998 to 2005, highlighted the benefits of hormone replacement therapy over the risks, a boon to Wyeth,... More »

Case on Vaccines Far From Closed: Carrey

Scant, biased evidence not enough to rule out dangers

(Newser) - The media act as though questions about vaccines’ potential harm to children have all been answered, but that’s based on “a huge leap of logic,” Jim Carrey writes for the Huffington Post. The court convened to rule on the vaccine cases said vaccines hadn’t caused autism... More »

Mothers' Epilepsy Drug May Lower IQs of Kids

Study urges caution for popular valproate

(Newser) - Children born to women taking the popular epilepsy drug valproate have notably lower IQs than other kids, a new study shows. The anti-seizure drug, sold generically and under the brand name Depakote, also is prescribed for migraines, pain, and psychiatric disorders, the New York Times reports. Doctors involved with the... More »

Beware: Antidepressants Could Kill Your Sex Life

New studies show surprising libido effects in antidepressants

(Newser) - An impaired sex drive has long been recognized as an occasional side effect of some antidepressants, but recent research suggests the drugs' libido-stifling powers might be far more widespread than doctors and patients thought. The prevalence of users experiencing numbness or fleeting arousal may be as high as 50%, and... More »

Drug Companies Hide Data From Docs

Edited info could mislead those prescribing meds

(Newser) - Pharmaceutical companies aren't as upfront with doctors as they are with the government about their new products, a study finds. Though drug companies must provide the FDA with all of the data from clinical trials, related papers published in medical journals were found to omit info from 20% of the... More »

FDA May Strengthen Chantix Label

Anti-smoking drug linked to more seizures, accidents

(Newser) - The FDA may beef up its warning for the anti-smoking drug Chantix after an increase in the number of serious incidents linked to the drug, the Wall Street Journal reports. A drug-safety group tallied 1,001 reports of patients suffering seizures, blackouts, and loss of motor control—some while driving—... More »

Quit-Smoking Drug Linked to Heart Trouble, Dizziness

FAA bans pilots and air controllers from using Chantix after report

(Newser) - Pfizer smoking-cessation drug Chantix has been linked to nearly a thousand serious incidents in the last quarter of 2007, the Wall Street Journal reports. A report from a drug safety group found that some users of the drug—already linked to depression and suicide—suffered heart trouble, diabetes, or accidents... More »

Study: Drug Ads Misleading. No, Really.

Big pharma uses tricks, distractions to veil harmful side-effects

(Newser) - Drug ads are multiplying on TV, and manufacturers are starting to advertise medical equipment used in invasive procedures, so now might be a good time to wonder what the spots are telling us. Not as much as they should, Time reports. An independent researcher has found drug companies are using... More »

LASIK Patients Urge Better Oversight

Eye surgery can have serious side-effects, they tell FDA

(Newser) - Patients experiencing painful and sometimes debilitating side-effects of LASIK eye surgery urged regulators today to keep a closer watch on the procedure, Reuters reports. A surgeon speaking to an FDA panel—soliticing advice for possible warnings after receiving 140 complaints—did not discount the allegations but said “the great... More »

8 Worrying Drug Side Effects

FDA-approved medications pass clinical trials, but the real world uncovers more

(Newser) - Despite rigorous testing, some drugs have side effects that only rear their ugly heads when introduced to the general population. Forbes catalogs some of the weirdest:
  1. Anti-smoking drug Chantix can cause insomnia and nightmares.
  2. Diet drug Alli can have unforeseen gastrointestinal side-effects; these can be counteracted by eating a low-fat
... More »

Deaths Spark FDA Review of Botox Safety

'Off-label' use under scrutiny after fatalities, severe reactions

(Newser) - The FDA is investigating the safety of Botox and a competing medication after learning that the drug might have caused death and breathing problems in children being treated for cerebral palsy, Reuters reports. That's not an approved use for the cosmetic drug; docs administer it because it can block nerve... More »

AIDS Patients Are Living Longer, but Getting Sicker

Survivors hit with 'old age' health problems

(Newser) - Revolutionary drug cocktails mean AIDS sufferers are living much longer, but as they age they're suffering from medical problems that significantly lower the quality of those extended lives, the New York Times writes. AIDS survivors are struggling with illnesses usually associated with much older people, including cancers, kidney failure, lung... More »

FDA May Add Warnings to Flu Meds

Hallucinations, other side effects seen with Tamiflu, Relenza

(Newser) - The FDA may change the labels of flu medications Tamiflu and Relenza to warn of serious side effects such as hallucinations, the Wall Street Journal reports. More than 700 so-called neuropsychiatric events—for example, children trying to "flee" by jumping through windows—and 16 deaths may be related to... More »

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