October 2024
Biologic drugs, which include certain vaccines, insulin and monoclonal antibodies, are made from living cells or microorganisms; they are the fastest-growing medication class in the United States. Learn about biologic drugs and biosimilars, which have a shorter approval process and may be more affordable. As of August 2024 the FDA had approved 58 biosimilars for many reference biologic drugs.
April 2023
As seven years have passed since Toujeo’s approval without new major safety concerns being identified, Public Citizen’s Health Research Group has now designated it as Limited Use — a treatment for diabetes that should be used only if treatment with less concentrated and cheaper forms of insulin have first been tried and found to be inadequate.
March 2023
Patients taking the widely prescribed hypothyroidism drug levothyroxine should be aware that it has clinically important interactions with many other prescription and over-the-counter medications, dietary supplements and even certain foods.
April 2019
Many diabetes patients, including some with health insurance, can no longer afford to take the dosage of life-saving insulin prescribed by their doctors because of price gouging by the pharmaceutical industry. For some of these patients, the rationing of unaffordable insulin has proved to be fatal.
November 2018
Read about the numerous medications that can interact with digoxin, a drug commonly prescribed for heart failure and atrial fibrillation. These interactions can result in either digoxin toxicity or decreased digoxin effectiveness depending on the other drug being used concomitantly.
December 2017
Weight gain is an adverse event associated with many widely used medications and may lead to significant overweight and obesity, especially in susceptible individuals. Find out which drugs have this adverse effect.
June 2017
Many adverse drug reactions are severe enough to cause serious injury, hospitalization and even death. Find out which outpatient medications are most likely to cause adverse events that necessitate a visit to the emergency room.
November 2016
TOUJEO is a newer, long-acting, once-daily insulin approved by the Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes in adults. Learn why you should avoid using this drug until at least 2022.
November 2015
Insulin pumps have been promoted as an important technological advancement in diabetes care. Find out why Public Citizen’s Health Research Group considers these devices too dangerous to use.
August 2013
Six recently approved diabetes drugs have been linked to an increased risk of pancreatitis and possibly pancreatic cancer.
March 2012
Find out why you should not use any of the three recently-approved diabetes drugs known as "gliptins".
October 2009
We review recent studies potentially implicating one form of insulin in cancer and conclude that there is insufficient evidence to link the drug to cancer at present.
December 2002
Ephedra, or ma huang, the natural form of the stimulant ephedrine, the most infamous and dangerous drug found in dietary supplements sold for weight loss, is at last beginning to receive the negative notoriety it deserves. Ephedra causes heart attacks and strokes because of its ability to raise blood pressure and heart rate. Article discusses the risk of other dietary supplements.
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