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All Prescription Drugs Alerts
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Using Pain Relief Patches Safely
The prescription pain relief patch, fentanyl (Duragesic), has caused more than 100 deaths -- most of these due to improper use by patients. If you use fentanyl or another pain relief patch, follow the prescribed dose carefully and stay alert to signs of an overdose. More...
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5 Steps To Help You Avoid Common Drug Side Effects
A study linking drug side effects and emergency room admissions found that a large number of Americans -- as many as 700,000 annually -- land in the hospital from taking medications. But the good news is that there are precautions you can take to avoid some of the worst adverse drug events detailed in the study. More...
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Adverse Drug Reactions and Other Age-Related Medication Concerns
Have you noticed that as you get older you react differently to the medications that your doctor prescribes? Many of us do. In this health alert, Johns Hopkins doctors explain age-related physiological changes that can affect the way our bodies react to medications.
If you're over 50, chances are you're taking more medications and in greater quantities than you ever did in previous decades. Indeed, people between the ages of 55 and 64 are given… More...
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What Is an Authorized Generic Drug?
The term generic drug usually refers to a medication whose patent has expired. But what is an authorized generic drug? In this health alert, Dr. Brent G. Petty, a pharmacologist at Johns Hopkins, explains this important drug category.
When a drug is first discovered or produced in the laboratory, it is assigned a generic name to distinguish it from other drugs. This generic name refers to the medication's active ingredient: the chemical that cures diseases or… More...
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The Connection Between Sedatives and Fractures in Elderly Patients
All drugs have potential side effects. Indeed, at some point you've probably squinted down the laundry list of possible side effects on the package insert of your medications. Common drug-related side effects include blurred vision, drowsiness, dizziness, dry mouth, heart palpitations, erectile dysfunction, memory impairment, and nervousness. Fortunately, many of these drug side effects occur in only small numbers of people. … More...
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What Is Pharmacogenomics?
The goal of taking any medication is to deliver a sufficient dose to produce the desired effect at the right location in the body. But each body is different and often people respond differently to the same medication. Pharmacogenomics – part of the growing field of personalized medication -- addresses this widespread problem. … More...
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Ask the Doctor About Nanopharmaceuticals
Welcome to the brave new world of nanomedicine. In this Health Alert, Johns Hopkins specialists explain how drugs called nanopharmaceuticals are changing the treatment of cancer.
Q. What are nanopharmaceuticals? Are they safe?
A. Nanopharmaceuticals are drugs designed using extremely small materials -- a billionth of a meter, or a nanometer, in size. For comparison, the width of a strand of hair is 100,000 nanometers, and a nanometer is smaller than a single cell in your… More...
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How To Dispose of Your Medications
If you've ever wondered what to do with leftover or expired prescription medications, the federal government recently released some important advice. Here are guidelines from the Office of National Drug Control Policy.
Here are your three options:
1. Throw drugs in the trash. To do this, remove pills from their original containers. If you are worried about illegal reuse, mix the pills with coffee grounds or kitty litter and place in an empty can or sealable… More...
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Affording Your Medications
Big clinical trials may show that the new medications work, but not their cost-effectiveness. A recent MEDLINE study looks into this under-discussed subject.
The best-possible medications can't offer you much if you can't afford them. Even with health insurance, you may pay a significant amount each month in co-payments for medications alone. … More...
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The Risks of Drug Flipping
Has your health insurance company ever urged you to switch medications? Johns Hopkins explains the risks of 'drug flipping,' and offers advice.
People sometimes encounter problems with their medications when they switch insurance companies. A brand of drug that is covered with a small co-pay on their former plan may not be on the formulary (the list of drugs approved by a health insurer for use by its beneficiaries) of the new one. In these cases,… More...
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Monitoring Your Medications
When your doctor prescribes a new medication, are the dosing and potential side effects thoroughly discussed? For many patients they are not, as a recent study discovered.
There is no single ideal dose of any medication for all patients, because people often respond differently to the same medications. The dose must be tailored to you and your specific medical needs. The goal is to identify the minimum effective dose: one that provides sufficient benefit, with minimum… More...
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Using Acetaminophen Safely
Recent research indicates that acetaminophen overuse is on the rise and can lead to acute liver failure. What should you do? Johns Hopkins offers advice.
The fact that the average lifespan in the United States continues to inch upward suggests that most people who use medications are better off for the experience. However, it's also obvious from the daily news that even though drugs are tested thoroughly they can have unexpected side effects. … More...
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Chemical Culprit in Grapefruit-Drug Interactions Identified
People are discouraged from consuming grapefruits or grapefruit juice while taking certain medications because they can affect the way the medications are metabolized. Now scientists are closer to understanding why this dangerous interaction occurs.
Certain foods and drinks don't mix well with certain medications. For example, grapefruits or grapefruit juice may interact badly with a number of medications, because natural grapefruit contains a substance that affects the activity of an enzyme in the intestines and liver… More...
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Should Physicians Use Secret Placebos?
Have you ever been given a placebo? In a recent study, the AMA Ethics Board concludes that secret placebo treatment is improper.
The American Medical Association (AMA) Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs (CEJA) has decided that it is unethical for doctors to offer placebo therapy without patient consent. To be incorporated into the AMA's Code of Medical Ethics, the AMA House of Delegates, the organization's national policy-making body, must vote in favor of the ruling.… More...
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Big Pharma and Generic Drugs
Generic drugs can save the consumer a lot of money. But some pharmaceutical manufacturers work aggressively to keep their market for a drug that goes off patent, limiting the availability of the generic brand. Here's an example.
The term 'generic drug' usually refers to a drug that has come off patent and is manufactured by one or more generic-drug companies in addition to the company that originally held the patent. Most generic drugs reach the market… More...
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Shingles Vaccine Update
Someday, shingles may be obsolete, but for now there’s a vaccine – if you’re lucky enough to get it from your doctor. The shingles vaccine was approved in 2006, but you may have found that it’s not offered at your doctor’s office. This isn’t unusual. Many doctors’ offices and insurance providers handle the shingles vaccine, called Zostavax, like a prescription drug. For instance, Medicare covers Zostavax under Part D, its prescription drug plan, whereas other adult… More...
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Direct-To-Consumer Drug Ads -- What’s in them for you?
Do drug ads help patients or harm them? Critics of drug ads assert that the ads foster artificial demand for brand-name drugs, drive up the cost of health care, potentially expose people to side effects from unproven drugs, and complicate the doctor-patient relationship.
If you are an American adult who has read a magazine or watched television in the past decade, chances are you have seen many direct-to-consumer (DTC) drug advertisements. Commonly these ads identify… More...
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Medication and the Media
The average medical news report on local TV stations lasts for only 33 seconds, which means that reporters have very little time to explain the details of a study, let alone discuss which of their listeners it might actually affect. More...
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Using Generic Drugs Safely
Health insurance companies love generic drugs, because they cost less money than branded versions – but are generic drugs right for you? Are generic drugs safe? The short answer is yes, because in the United States, manufacturers must prove to the FDA that the generic version of a drug has the same active ingredient as the original, branded version and that it is absorbed into the body approximately as well (with no more than a 20%… More...
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Safe Use of Antibiotics
When do you really need an antibiotic for a respiratory illness? Probably not very often. However, some doctors still prescribe antibiotics inappropriately despite the risks, in large part because patients expect them.
The common cold, sore throats, sinus infections, coughs, and bronchitis -- these acute respiratory infections (ARIs) send more people to the doctor than any other kind of illness. About 75% of the time, people go home with a prescription for an antibiotic— -- whether… More...
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Your Pharmacist -- An Underutilized Resource
Do you know your pharmacist’s name? If you don’t, that’s one of several questions you might want to ask. A survey commissioned by the American Pharmacists Association (APhA) found that people who know their pharmacists by name also tend to keep their pharmacists up to date on all the medications they take, read the labeling information on their prescriptions, know the active ingredients of their medications, and more often ask their pharmacists questions about their medications.
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Drug Safety in the News
Drug Safety Report #1: Bayer Failed To Disclose Dangers of Anti-Bleeding Drug
On February 8, 2006, the FDA issued a public health advisory about Trasylol (aprotinin), a drug used to reduce bleeding during heart surgery. Only days earlier, a finding had been reported in The New England Journal of Medicine that Trasylol significantly increased the risk of heart attack, heart failure, stroke, and kidney failure, whereas two older and much less expensive generic anti-bleeding drugs… More...
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The High Cost of Chemotherapy
Survival comes dear for cancer patients who need some new anticancer drugs.
In some cases, paying for cancer treatment can be an issue in itself. This is especially true when cancer treatment continues for an extended time and involves chemotherapy. Among cancer survivors younger than 65, one in five delay getting necessary cancer treatment or avoid it entirely just because of the cost, according to a 2006 study by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and… More...
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Drugstore Aisle Updates on Warfarin, DHEA, Black Cohosh
On Warfarin and Herbal Supplements -- If you use warfarin, you already know the rules for dealing with food and drug interactions: Don’t start or stop taking any other medications without telling your doctor, keep the amount of vitamin-K-rich foods that you eat consistent, and carry a medical ID card or bracelet to inform emergency personnel that you’re taking warfarin. … More...
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Generic Drugs
Should you switch to a generic version of Zocor or another prescription medication? Read this … then decide. Typically, a generic drug is much less expensive than its brand-name counterpart, and opting for it can make economic sense for both you… More...
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How Aging Affects the Body's Response to Drugs
Johns Hopkins doctors explain age-related physiological changes that can affect the way our bodies react to medications. If you’re over 50, chances are you’re taking more medications and in greater quantities than you ever did in previous decades. Indeed, people between the ages of 55 and 64 are given an average of eight different prescription medications during the course of a year. And those over age 70 take an average of 6.5 medications per day. More...
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Ask the Doctor About Your Prescriptions
Prescription Medication Question 1 -- Are medications that have passed their expiration dates good to use, or should they be discarded?
Think of expiration dates -- which the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requires be placed on most prescription and over-the-counter medications -- as a very conservative guide to longevity. The expiration date is a guarantee from the manufacturer that a medication will remain chemically stable—and thus maintain its full potency and safety --… More...
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Prescription Drugs That Cause Weight Gain
Lawrence Cheskin, M.D., Director of the Johns Hopkins Weight Management Center, talks about the common problem of medication-related weight gain.
Most people put on weight as they get older, often because their eating habits change and they become less active. But there can be another, hidden reason for weight gain: taking certain prescription medications. “Medication-related weight gain has become far more important over the past decade as obesity increases in prevalence and more people are taking… More...
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