Speaking of drug safety, the FDA recently announced that it will be posting quarterly reports on potential safety issues. The lists will consist of drugs that are under evaluation for potential safety issues. You can find the current FDA report here.
You want to know what's on that list, right? Believe me, as a patient who depends on her share of pharmaceuticals I want to be as informed as possible, too! But before you click on that link, there are a few caveats:
First, these are not drugs that the FDA has concluded are dangerous; rather, these are drugs that the FDA has identified as having a potential safety issue, derived from the AERS (Adverse Event Reporting System) database. In some cases, it may be a matter of changing the indications on a label.
Second, Janet Woodcock, M.D., director of FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research urges you to keep taking your medication even if you see it on the list. "My message to patients is this: Don't stop taking your medicine. If your doctor has prescribed a drug that appears on this list, you should continue taking it unless your doctor advises you differently."
I would add that if you see your medication on the list, you should also have a conversation with your doctor about the drug in question!
One more thing, the lists will not be cumulative. Read the FDA's fact sheet on the quarterly reports here.
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