Grab Drug Advertisements By The Pills: Take Your Time

Grab Drug Advertisements by the Pills: Part Four

Now that you know that the most expensive prescription medications tend to dominate the drug advertising scene, it’s probably no surprise that these same prescription medications are also the newest drugs on the market.

However, here’s something to which you may not have given much thought: Because these new drugs are new drugs, they don’t have as much clinical trial time under their belts. The most pressing problem this poses is that there could be serious side effects, risks, and dangers associated with the drug that we (the scientists, drug companies, doctors, and patients) don’t know about yet.

So, how can you better protect yourself from these risks?

• If you and your doctor are interested in trying a new prescription medication, check with the drug’s maker, first. Find out how long the medication was on the market before the drug company began to advertise the drug. Pfizer, for example, claims to wait six months while Bristol-Meyers goes the distance with a one-year wait.
• If your doctor prescribes you one of the newer medications, get as much information (from your doctor and the drug company) about known side effects and even whether or not there may be some side effects that haven’t been officially claimed yet.
• If your doctor wants to prescribe one of the new prescription drugs but you don’t feel comfortable taking something so new, ask about alternatives, i.e. drugs that have similar benefits but have been on the market much longer.

Don’t worry – waiting for the drug to be on the market longer won’t seem as slow as that little fella at the top of this post

Do you have experience with taking a newer medication that put you in danger because of unknown side effects? Share in the comments!

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