FDA Announces 20 Dangerous Drugs You Should NOT Be On

A 2007 federal law requires the FDA to disclose all its investigations
into reports of possibly drug-related adverse events. The first of
this series of quarterly reports has been released. It includes
adverse events reported between January 1 and March 31, 2008.

Here's the list of drugs and the adverse events that have been
reported:

Arginine Hydrochloride Injection (R-Gene 10) -- Pediatric overdose due
to labeling and packaging confusion
Desflurane (Suprane) -- Cardiac arrest
Duloxetine (Cymbalta) -- Urinary retention
Etravirine (Intelence) -- Hemarthrosis (blood in a joint)
Fluorouracil Cream (Carac) and Ketoconazole Cream (Kuric) -- Adverse
events due to name confusion
Heparin -- Anaphylactic-type (life-threatening allergic) reactions
Icodextrin (Extraneal) -- Hypoglycemia (low blood sugar)
Insulin U-500 (Humulin R) -- Dosing confusion
Ivermectin (Stromectol) and Warfarin -- Drug interaction
Lapatinib (Tykerb) -- Hepatotoxicity (liver toxicity)
Lenalidomide (Revlimid) -- Stevens-Johnson syndrome (a deadly drug
reaction)
Natalizumab (Tysabri) -- Skin melanomas (deadly skin cancer)
Nitroglycerin (Nitrostat) -- Overdose due to labeling confusion
Octreotide Acetate Depot (Sandostatin LAR) -- Ileus (bowels not
moving)
Oxycodone Hydrochloride Controlled-Release (OxyContin) -- Drug misuse,
abuse, and overdose
Perflutren Lipid Microsphere (Definity) -- Cardiopulmonary reactions
(lung/heart problems)
Phenytoin Injection (Dilantin) -- Purple glove syndrome
(discoloration, pain, and swelling of the hand that may lead to
amputation)
Quetiapine (Seroquel) -- Overdose due to sample pack labeling
confusion
Tebivudine (Tyzeka) -- Peripheral neuropathy (tingling or numbness in
the extremities)
Tumor Necrosis Factor (TNF) Blockers -- Cancers in children and young
adults
Sources:
FDA September 5, 2008
WebMD.com September 5, 2008

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Dr. Mercola's Comments:
It’s difficult to fathom the immense power of the pharmaceutical
industry at times, but consider this: The global market for
pharmaceuticals was worth more than $693 billion in 2007.

It is expected to increase to over $737 billion in 2008 and will top
$1.0 trillion by 2013.

To put these mind-boggling numbers into a larger perspective, the
pharmaceutical industry was worth more money in 2007 than the gross
domestic product (GDP) – which is the market value of all the output
produced in a nation in one year -- of these COUNTRIES, according to
statistics from the World Bank:

Belgium ($448.5 billion)
Sweden ($444 billion)
Switzerland ($415.5 billion)
Norway ($382 billion)
Saudi Arabia ($381.7 billion)
In fact, if placed on the list ranking the countries of the world
according to gross domestic product, the pharmaceutical industry would
rank number 17 out of 185 countries in 2007!

So, when I liken the pharmaceutical industry to a giant wielding a
mighty club, I really mean it. Their power and influence over
government, the field of conventional medicine, and your mind through
massive marketing efforts, is in a class of its own. It’s just that
most people don’t realize the magnitude of their financial influence,
and therefore are blinded and deceived by the manipulated perception
that the industry is “helping mankind.”

However, as has been repeatedly demonstrated, and as this latest FDA
watch-list of drugs that potentially pose serious risk, the
pharmaceutical industry is NOT putting out magic elixirs for good
health.

On the contrary, the industry is gaining power and strength from
propagating disease, not from achieving cures.

With Friends Like That, Who Needs Enemies?

These numbers are a sad reminder of just how successfully the industry
has turned our society into a “pharmacracy” where every twitch and
hiccup is deemed treatable with another prescription.

Unfortunately, treating disease symptoms with drugs will invariably
create other health problems, which lead to yet another prescription
to counteract the side effects from the first one, followed by another
one, and another… It’s an evil circle that is clearly evident when you
review the statistics of prescriptions per capita, which has grown
exponentially in the past 75 years.

In 1929, the average American received less than two prescriptions per
year. By 2006, the average annual prescription rate per capita in the
United States was:

just over 4 prescriptions per child (age 0-18)
almost 11 prescriptions per adult (age 19-64), and
28 prescriptions per senior, aged 65 and over!
If these drugs did in fact treat and cure disease, the United States
would have the healthiest inhabitants on the planet. Instead, we’re
seeing ever mounting numbers of people suffering from completely
preventable diseases like diabetes, and we’re seeing a mounting death
toll directly attributable to prescription drugs.

According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), adverse drug
reactions from drugs that are properly prescribed and properly
administered cause about 106,000 deaths per year, making prescription
drugs the fourth-leading cause of death in the U.S. Compare this to
the death toll from illegal drugs -- which is about 10,000 per year --
and you begin to see the magnitude of the problem, and the magnitude
of the coverup.

We are indeed a nation of drug addicts, and just like old-fashioned
street junkies, we’re spending every penny we have to feed the beast;
we believe the sweet-talking, free-sampling salesmen, and are dying in
droves because of our dependency on a quick fix.

Looking for a Safe Drug? Keep Lookin’

But how can it be that clinically tested, FDA-approved drugs that are
supposed to “cure” diseases are ending up hurting, and in some cases
killing, so many people?

One reason is because even under the BEST circumstances -- such as
with a drug that has gone through unbiased, stringent, long-term
testing -- when it is released into the uncontrolled environment of
your body, literally anything can happen. It may interact badly with
another drug you’re taking, or perhaps a food you eat causes an
unforeseen reaction, or maybe your genetic makeup, metabolism or the
state of your immune system will cause it to have an unpredictable
impact.

There are countless possibilities, and only a tiny fraction has been
“tested for” in a lab.

And that’s the best case scenario. Unfortunately, studies are
frequently biased, results are skewed, and drugs are put on a fast-
track to be approved long before anyone knows whether they’re safe.

In essence, it’s all a gamble, and there are NO 100 percent safe
drugs.

To Medicate or Not to Medicate, That is the Question

You have to remember that, ultimately, it’s your body, and the
decision to medicate yourself for an ailment is yours alone.

If your doctor suggests you take a drug, research it before you take
it. Do not believe for one minute that your physician will have all
the answers and all the latest research findings at his or her
fingertips. They won’t. Most physicians will have little to offer you
aside from the lines they learned from their drug reps.

Make sure you are aware of the potential side effects of the drug,
read the package insert, and remember that even if it lists a side
effect as rare, it can still happen to you. Then decide whether the
potential benefits truly outweigh the potential risks.

Also remember that a large number of drugs are vastly over-prescribed
and unnecessary. They’re frequently referred to as “blockbuster
drugs.” If several people you know are on it, ask yourself, “why?”

Curing Disease Means Finding Health

If you make drugs a last option, not a first choice, you will have
taken a major step in the right direction.

For example, all of the following conditions can be treated or
prevented with LIFESTYLE CHANGES, yet if you go to a typical doctor,
you will likely be prescribed a potentially dangerous drug instead:

Diabetes
Heart disease
High blood pressure
High cholesterol
Insomnia
I realize that it takes a massive shift in thinking to realize that
your body can heal itself, and that often drugs only hinder the
process. But I can’t stress enough the importance of the most basic
principle of HOW to resolve an illness: finding the underlying cause
of the problem. Masking it with a drug that lessens your symptoms does
not fix anything.

Disease can only be resolved by addressing its root cause.

What many people fail to realize is that it is possible to maintain
optimal health by simply avoiding unnecessary drugs and by
understanding the fundamentals of good nutrition and exercise, which
include:

Eliminating sugar and most grains
Eating unprocessed, high-quality foods, organic if possible, right for
your nutritional type
Eating your food as close to raw as possible
Consuming enough omega-3 fats
Exercising regularly

Related Articles:

 7 Ills That Don’t Need Pills

 8 Drugs Doctors Would Never Take

 Using Drugs Causes 700,000 in U.S. to go to ER Every Year

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angerous-drugs-you-should-not-be-on.aspx?source=nl