Search results below include Worst Pills, Best Pills Newsletter Articles where your
selected drug is a primary subject of discussion.
July 2024
Adults aged 65 or older are at high risk of experiencing drug interactions and adverse events. This article highlights five drug classes that are associated with increased risks for older adults: benzodiazepines and Z drugs; anticholinergic medications; sulfonylureas, drugs for type 2 diabetes; cardiovascular and anti-thrombotic medications; and antipsychotics in older adults with dementia.
May 2024
Learn about a recent study that found that major drug interactions are common among outpatient children with Medicaid insurance and that these interactions often involve drugs that are routinely prescribed for children with common chronic health conditions.
January 2023
Patients taking the drug sotalol (BETAPACE, BETAPACE AF, SORINE, SOTYLIZE) should be aware that it has clinically important and potentially dangerous interactions with many other prescription medications.
October 2022
Patients taking the commonly prescribed antidepressant citalopram should be aware that it has clinically important and potentially dangerous interactions with many other prescription and over-the-counter medications.
July 2022
Many studies have suggested that breast cancer risk, via prolactin elevation, is increased by antipsychotic medications, but the results were mixed and warranted further, more rigorous investigation. A recent, large observational study has added stronger evidence that certain antipsychotic medications increase breast cancer risk.
July 2022
Medications are a leading cause of sexual dysfunction in women. Knowing which drugs prescribed or recommended by your doctor can cause sexual dysfunction will allow you to take steps to prevent or minimize this common, often troubling adverse drug effect.
April 2022
Medications are a leading cause of sexual dysfunction in men. Knowing which drugs prescribed or recommended by your doctor can cause sexual dysfunction will allow you to take steps to prevent or minimize this common, often troubling adverse drug effect.
January 2022
Numerous prescription and over-the-counter drugs can cause or exacerbate constipation. Knowing which medications prescribed or recommended by your doctor cause constipation will allow you to take steps to prevent or minimize this common, troubling adverse drug effect.
July 2021
Patients taking the commonly prescribed abnormal heart rhythm drug amiodarone should be aware that it has clinically important interactions with many other prescription medications.
May 2021
Neuroleptic malignant syndrome is a life-threatening neurological disorder most often caused by neuroleptic (antipsychotic) medications, which are used to treat schizophrenia and certain other psychiatric disorders, among other things. The syndrome also can be caused by certain other drugs used to treat nausea and depression, as well as by the sudden discontinuation of a dopamine agonist (drugs that are used most commonly to treat Parkinson’s disease).
September 2020
Although impaired driving usu¬ally is caused by alcohol or marijuana, many commonly used prescription and over-the-counter medications also can impair one’s ability to drive safely. Learn about several classes of medications that can cause this serious problem to protect yourself, your passengers and others who share the road with you.
December 2019
Patients taking the commonly prescribed antifungal drug fluconazole (DIFLUCAN) should be aware that it has clinically important interactions with many other prescription medications. Some of these interactions can lead to an increased risk of fatal heart rhythm abnormalities.
October 2019
Next to Parkinson’s disease, drug-induced parkinsonism is the second most common cause of parkinsonism, accounting for about 8-12% of all parkinsonism cases. Find out which commonly used drugs can cause this condition.
September 2018
Read about the more than two dozen medications that can have clinically important interactions with aripiprazole, one of the widely used newer atypical antipsychotic drugs that is approved by the FDA for treatment of several disorders including schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and depression.
December 2015
Some powerful antipsychotic drugs originally developed to treat schizophrenia now have been approved to treat depression. Learn about the serious side effects of these drugs that make it advisable to explore other, safer options for managing depression.
October 2013
The federal government recently issued guidelines discouraging the use of antipsychotic medications to treat dementia in nursing home patients, promoting nonpharmacologic approaches to such treatment. Antipsychotic use among elderly patients is associated with increased chances of death, as well as other serious side effects.
April 2011
The article lists 27 drugs that can cause akathisia, a condition characterized by muscular quivering and the inability to sit still. Other signs of the condition include fidgety movements, leg swinging while sitting, rocking from foot to foot or pacing and motor restlessness.
December 2010
The article describes the symptoms of the life-threatening neurological disorder neuroleptic malignant syndrome (NMS) and lists 40 different prescription drugs that have been found to cause it.
October 2010
A study discovered that more than 1 out of every 10 people who went to a Parkinson’s disease center was found to have drug-induced Parkinsonism. These people were misdiagnosed as having the more common illness, Parkinson’s disease, which is irreversible and has unknown causes.
April 2010
The article lists 53 drugs that can interact with the psychiatric drug ABILIFY to either increase the amount in the body, which can lead to toxicity, or decrease the amount rendering the drug less effective.
July 2006
Elderly patients with dementia-related psychosis treated with atypical antipsychotic drugs are at an increased risk of death compared to placebo...The percentage of patients using antipsychotic drugs in the six nursing homes receiving training and support was significantly lower (23 percent) than that in the nursing homes whose patients received usual care (42.1 percent).
July 2006
The article discusses numerous recent examples of the harm that has been caused by off-label prescribing, including the heart drugs amiodarone (Cordarone), many antipsychotic drugs, topiramate (Topamax)and several antidepressants.
February 2006
Clearly, the concern here is that the use of atypical and typical antipsychotic drugs to control the behavior of elderly nursing home residents who are not psychotic could be considered an unlawful chemical restraint.
July 2005
FDA relabels these drugs due to an increased risk of death among patients taking the drugs off-label for dementia.
June 2003
You should follow the Health Research Group’s Seven Year Rule with aripiprazole. There is no evidence to suggest that aripiprazole is a “breakthrough” drug.