Prescription Drugs

I can still remember when I first heard that Betty Ford had breast cancer. It was 1974 and I had already lost two members of my family to the disease at that point. But when we talked about their deaths, we rarely used the words "breast cancer;" the disease was still something you mentioned only in hushed tones.

Betty Ford changed all that by talking openly and honestly about breast cancer and then later about her own addictions to pills and alcohol. She went on to start the Betty Ford Center, where she helped thousands restart their lives.

When you fill a prescription medication, you probably assume that all the known side effects and possible complications will be listed in the pamphlets that come with the meds, right? But if your prescription is for a generic, that may not be the case.

Today the Supreme Court ruled that makers of generic drugs aren't obligated to inform you of newly revealed side effects or complications.  The makers of brand name drugs do need to provide an up-to-date warning label, but that obligation doesn't extend to generics.

Drug interaction is a tricky thing to manage, even for doctors. That's why it's important to tell you doctor everything you are taking – even medications purchased without a prescription.

More evidence of the importance of this disclosure comes from a study by scientists at the Fisher Center for Alzheimer's Disease Research at Rockefeller University in New York. They found that over-the-counter anti-inflammatory drugs like ibuprofen and aspirin reduce of the effectiveness of some of the most common anti-depressants, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors or SSRIs.