FDA Approves Record Number of New Medications in 2017 - Are these Drugs Safe?

PASADENA, Calif. - Jan. 3, 2018 - PRLog -- The Food and Drug Administration approved 46 new drugs in 2017 - the most number of approvals in more than 20 years, according to Reuters.

According to a recent article in Consumer Reports, more than half of Americans now regularly take a prescription medication.  The average adult takes four.

Americans take more pills today than at any other time in recent history - far more than people in any other country.

Much of that medication use is lifesaving or at least life-improving. But a lot is not.

The amount of harm stemming from inappropriate prescription medication is staggering. Almost 1.3 million people went to U.S. emergency rooms due to adverse drug effects in 2014, and about 124,000 died from those events.

With more drugs on the market comes the likelihood of more adverse effects, more hospital visits, and more deaths.

The newer the drug, the less testing it has had in the open "marketplace".  Clinical trials are done on a relatively few people. Patients, now more than ever, must quiz their doctors on what he or she truly knows about the effects of these drugs.

The book, If Only My Doctor Had Told Me… Your Rights as a Patient and the Law that Protects You explains the law of Informed Consent and how it applies to every single time you visit the doctor.  The book also tells you how and when using this legal right could save your life.

Here's what one reader had to say:

"That's why a book like "If Only My Doctor Had Told Me" is so important. Not only is there information that someone like myself can gain, but there are many lessons for folks who have not been active participants in their health care decisions. Patients need to realize the influence of advertising on their decisions (and how many doctors are unwittingly adjunct salesman for the drugs that are being prescribed.)

The author walks readers through the medical minefield, beginning with a detailed explanation of the rights of patients and Informed Consent. She then moves through the many alternative options available to people, options that in some cases used to be the norm before the pharmaceutical companies created a multi-billion dollar business."  Amazon Reviewer

This book is now available as an Ebook and in paperback from Amazon.

Click Here to Purchase from Amazon: http://amzn.to/2vEzraQ

TheEducatedPatientSeries
Meridith Berk
(323) 254-9976
OldTownPublishing@gmail.com
Published by Old Town Publishing
OldTownPublishing.com