Generic Drug Problems
Generic drugs are supposed to be identical to their brand-name counterparts, but many people report problems with generic drug quality. Share your own story.
More Metformin Recalls Distress Diabetes Patient…
Metformin is the most popular diabetes drug in the world. At last count, nearly 90 million prescriptions are dispensed every year for this medicine. But last December the FDA announced that it was pay…
COVID Vaccine Storage: Lessons for ALL Drugs!
By now you have no doubt heard that the Pfizer and BioNTech COVID mRNA vaccine must be stored at -70 degrees Celsius. That is -94 degrees Fahrenheit. This is not arbitrary. Proper COVID vaccine storag…
Shame on Us for Describing Drug Company “Girls…
Ouch! Sometimes we deserve a spanking. We do make mistakes. When we do, we should be corrected. In this case, though, we are not responsible for the phrase “Girls’ night out.” We were quoting fr…
Have Generic Drug Companies Cheated the Public?
Generic drugs are supposed to save Americans big bucks. The FDA proudly proclaims that generic drug approvals by the agency save more than ten billion dollars annually. While there is no doubt that mo…
Can You Trust Generic Drug Quality?
Have you lost count of medication recalls? It would not surprise us if you have become accustomed to FDA announcements about problems with generic drug quality. First it was blood pressure pills like …
When a Drug Like Buproprion Smells Bad
Some drugs have a distinctive odor. That’s a nice way of saying that some medications naturally smell nasty. For example, we have seen complaints that the blood pressure medicine diltiazem has a str…
Drug Labels Inadequate for Metformin Drug Recall…
In case you might have missed our alerts about metformin drug recalls, here is a link to this latest drug debacle. Yup, the FDA has been caught up in another nitrosamine contamination scandal. Five co…
Which Metformin is OK and Which is on the FDA’…
Is the FDA facing another scandal? It was not that long ago that the agency was announcing massive recalls of popular “sartan” blood pressure medications such as irbesartan, losartan and valsartan…
Looking for a Reliable Generic Medication
If you take medications, there is a very good chance that you take at least one generic medicine. Can you trust it? The FDA has said that every generic drug it approves is equivalent to every other ap…
ALERT | Metformin Carcinogen Contamination Confi…
We have been quite concerned about the most widely prescribed diabetes drug in the world. Metformin (Glucophage) is taken by over 18 million Americans. More than 90 million prescriptions are dispensed…
Did Price Fixing by Generic Drug Companies Cheat…
Have you ever been cheated? Did someone ever give you the wrong change from a transaction, either knowingly or by accident? What about infidelity? Did someone ever cheat on you? Has price fixing by ge…
Could Coronavirus Drug Shortages Make It Hard to…
Long before the coronavirus pandemic, crucial medicines have been in short supply. We have been tracking drug shortages since 2014. In any given year, anywhere from 100 to 300 different medications ha…
Quality Problems Prompt FDA Recall of Tetracycli…
During these frightening times, we need to depend on the quality of the pharmaceuticals we take more than ever before. But a new announcement from the FDA won’t do anything to ease our concern. The …
How Can People Afford Brand Name Medicines?
We are frequently stunned by the high cost of medicines. That is especially true for brand name drugs. Most people have discovered that their insurance companies make it difficult to afford brand name…
Was Your Medicine Transported Under FDA Guidelin…
The FDA has very strict recommendations about how medicines should be stored and shipped. The question is: do drug companies and wholesalers comply with those guidelines? Getting a straight answer out…
Can You Manage Your Blood Sugar Naturally?
Metformin is a first-line medication for people with type 2 diabetes. Although doctors also prescribe it for different disorders, from polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) to prostate cancer, the majori…
Several Metformin Diabetes Drugs Contaminated wi…
Metformin (Glucophage) is one of the most prescribed drugs in the United States. According to our calculations, it is #5 on the list of top 100 pharmaceuticals dispensed in America. That means that me…
Can You Prepare for Drug Shortages Resulting fro…
On February 18, 2020, we wrote an article titled: “Will There be Drug Shortages Resulting from the Coronavirus?” Is there a possibility of worldwide drug shortages? China makes key ingredients for…
COVID-19 Forces FDA to Stop Inspections in China
The Food and Drug Administration has announced that it has stopped inspections in China of drug manufacturing facilities because of the COVID-19 epidemic. The FDA is, however, monitoring the drug supp…
Why Won’t Pharmacies Fill Prescriptions with A…
We are always surprised when health professionals are unfamiliar with the concept of authorized generic drugs. We shouldn’t be. Medical and pharmacy students are not taught that there even are such …
Wellbutrin XL Antidepressant Is Affordable in Ca…
Several years ago we shook up the Food and Drug Administration when we complained about a generic form of the Wellbutrin XL antidepressant. We had received hundreds of complaints about a branded gener…
Importing Medicine from Canada Is Illegal but Is…
Politicians of every stripe complain about the high cost of prescription drugs. So far, though, all they do is talk. Nothing has been done to help patients deal with skyrocketing drug costs. The admin…
Generic Antibiotic Doxycycline Did Not Work!
For decades, most of the medicines Americans took were made in the U.S. That was true for brand-name drugs as well as generics. Over the last decade or two, though, drug companies realized that they c…
Breaking Health News | Metformin and Nitrosamine…
Not again! Another nitrosamine scare has just been announced for one of the most popular drugs in the pharmacy. Metformin is the number one most prescribed diabetes drugs in the U.S., if not in the wo…
FDA Embraces Generic Drugs from India Despite Qu…
2019 has been a year of many drug recalls because of concerns about quality and safety. The FDA announced a number of recalls involving blood pressure pills called ARBs. Angiotensin receptor blockers …
Pharmacists Are Worried About Foreign Drug Probl…
Pharmacists have been caught in a terrible double bind. On the one hand they want to dispense safe and effective pharmaceuticals. On the other hand, they have had to contend with unprecedented recalls…
Why Buy Brand Name Drugs from Canada?
The person who is most directly involved in day-to-day drug regulation at the FDA is Janet Woodcock, MD. She is Director of the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER). When we have a drug watc…
How Can You Tell if Your Drug Is Recalled?
If you buy a can of tomatoes or infant formula, you will find a Lot Number and a Use By/Expiration Date. This allows you to instantly identify a product that might have a problem. Supermarkets scan pr…
Another BP Nitrosamine Drug Recall and Zantac (R…
Are you getting drug contamination fatigue? We would not blame you. There is a new blood pressure nitrosamine drug recall. This time it is from Torrent Pharmaceutical Limited of Ahmedabad, India. The …
Has the FDA Not Approved Armour Thyroid?
Levothyroxine, a synthetic version of the thyroid hormone known as T4, is at or near the top of the list of most prescribed medications. Millions of Americans need to take this medication because thei…
Can You Overcome Trouble with Generic Antidepres…
Have you ever had trouble with generic antidepressants? We have heard from many readers who report difficulties in switching from brand-name to generic or between different generic medications. I…
How to Get Migraine Relief Without Spending a Fo…
Everyone who suffers from migraine headaches would like to know how to get migraine relief. For the past two and half decades, drug manufacturers have offered effective medications for these severe he…
Will New Epinephrine Shot Be More Affordable?
A few years ago, there was quite a fuss about high prices and shortages affecting EpiPen emergency allergy injections. This epinephrine shot is used to avert anaphylactic shock that can be life threat…
Why Are Pharmacists Silent about Generic Drug Qu…
10 Reasons Why Pharmacists Are Silent about Generic Drug Quality: Two recently published books (Katherine Eban’s Bottle of Lies and Rosemary Gibson’s China Rx) spell out in graphic detail the…
A New Carcinogen DMF Discovered in Valsartan BP …
And now there are FOUR potential carcinogens found in blood pressure medicines called ARBs (angiotensin receptor blockers). For almost a year, Americans have faced repeated recalls of BP pills like ir…
Why Aren’t Docs Outraged by Inadequate Generic…
Doctors, pharmacists and nurses are directly responsible for patient care. They prescribe, dispense and oversee treatment. Why aren’t they more concerned about generic drug quality? We are confounde…
Generic Furosemide Disappoints | How to Afford L…
Ask any doctor about the importance of furosemide (Lasix) and you are likely to get an earful. The FDA approved this diuretic in 1966. It is considered an essential medicine by the World Health Organi…
Show 1169: What Are the Problems with Generic Dr…
You may not be aware that the vast majority of medications Americans take are generic drugs. This helps hold down the costs that patients have to pay, especially if you are taking one of the medicines…
Why Americans Don’t Trust the Pharmaceutical I…
Both brand name drug companies and generic drug manufacturers have earned the distrust of the American public. In just the last week we have learned about another lawsuit filed against some of the lea…
Generic Drugs Hammered | Are AUTHORIZED Generics…
This has been a very bad week for generic drug manufacturers and the FDA. Here are just a few of the stories that have made headlines. “A New Book Argues That Generic Drugs Are Poisoning Us” (New …