New US research indicates that 20 per cent of recently approved prescription drugs have serious and even life-threatening side effects and suggests that doctors should prescribe older medication whenever possible. The findings, by the Public Citizen Health Research Group, may prompt the US Food and Drug Administration to consider raising its threshold for approving new drugs when safe and effective alternatives exist. The research is published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
(Associated Press 01/05/02)
http://www.ap.org <http://www.ap.org/>
C Health Media Ltd 2002
http://www.health-news.co.uk <http://www.health-news.co.uk/>
In Friendship Kath Findlay
The UK Adhesion Society