Drug Information
Will Ozempic Lead to Hair Loss?
Over the past several years, the FDA has approved a number of medications designed to help people with type 2 diabetes control their blood sugar. You may have seen some of them advertised on televisio…
How Slick Marketing Attempts to Humanize Pharmac…
Dennis Miller, R.Ph. is a retired chain store pharmacist. His book, The Shocking Truth About Pharmacy: A Pharmacist Reveals All the Disturbing Secrets, can be downloaded in its entirety at Amazon for …
Nicotine for Brain Power: Promise, Peril or Plac…
Americans are always searching for ways to stay sharp, focused and mentally competent. There is nothing worse for an older person who is searching for a word than to have to apologize by resorting to …
Amlodipine (Norvasc) Side Effects Include Swolle…
For reasons that remain somewhat mysterious to us, amlodipine (Norvasc) is one of the most popular blood pressure medications in the pharmacy. This calcium channel blocker lowers blood pressure in par…
Why Buproprion Smells Bad: Uncovering the Myster…
Some drugs have a distinctive odor. That’s a nice way of saying that some medications naturally smell nasty. For example, Mucomyst (acetylcysteine) is prescribed to dissolve mucus. It can smell like…
Are GLP-1 Weight Loss Drugs Stealing Muscle Stre…
GLP-1 agonists have been hailed as miracle drugs. Medications like semaglutide and tirzepatide are transforming the treatment of obesity, helping people lose weight when nothing else seemed to work. W…
Is Thyroid Treatment Linked to Osteoporosis?
Doctors have long known that people who make too much thyroid hormone are at risk for weakened bones. This is also a problem for those who take synthetic levothyroxine to supplement their underactive …
Drug Effectiveness: The Missing Number Behind Ev…
You might assume that drug effectiveness would be one of the most important things a doctor would discuss when writing a new prescription. That almost never happens. Patients may be told what a medici…
How Can You Counteract Muscle Pain from Statins?
The doctors' debate over statins has become heated. You can read what we have written about that here and here. If you prefer, you can listen to our interviews with leading cardiologists here. But pat…
How to Soothe Allergy Symptoms Without Serious S…
Allergy season takes a terrible toll on people who are susceptible to pollen. This is the time of year when invisible particles in the air trigger sneezing, sniffling, itching and congestion. Allergy …
Pills or Shots for Obesity? New Foundayo Pills v…
The FDA approved oral Wegovy (semaglutide) on December 22, 2025. Eli Lilly received approval for its pill, Foundayo (orforglipron), on April 1, 2026. It will be a fight for America’s fat. Instead of…
The Informed Consent Charade: Are Patients Truly…
Before any surgery or medical treatment, patients are asked to agree to what is known as informed consent. What does that mean? Health care providers have both a legal and an ethical responsibility t…
Will Nexletol (Bempedoic Acid) Replace Statins?
Statins overwhelmingly dominate pharmacy sales. At last count, over 50 million people take statin-type cholesterol-lowering drugs such as atorvastatin, rosuvastatin and and simvastatin. That does not …
How Dangerous is Aluminum for People? What’…
No doubt you have seen the commercial that repeatedly asks: What's in your wallet? That, of course, is the Capital One ad. We have a different question: What's in your armpit? If you use an antiperspi…
Anti-Amyloid Drugs: Breakthrough or Boondoggle A…
In 2022 we wrote: "YIKES! FDA Approves Lecanemab Against Alzheimer's." In 2023 we asked the question: is aducanumab (Aduhelm) a breakthrough or boondoggle against Alzheimer's? In 2024 we asked the qu…
PPI Use Linked to Chronic Kidney Disease
Acid-suppressing drugs called proton pump inhibitors or PPIs are considered so safe that they can be purchased over the counter as Nexium, Prevacid and Prilosec. House brands include esomeprazole, lan…
Will Drug-Resistant Infections Kill Millions?
Infectious disease experts have been concerned about drug-resistant bacteria for years. Back in 2019, researchers at the United Nations issued an alarming analysis about drug-resistant infections. It …
OTC Drug Safety: Are We Playing Doctor At Our Pe…
Most Americans assume that if the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approves a medication for over-the-counter (OTC) sale, it must be safe. Every pharmacy and convenience store offers a wide variety …
Is Your Medication Causing Nightmares?
We are all encouraged to get a good night's sleep. That's because scientists find that restful sleep is important for brain function, cardiovascular health and diabetes management. Sleep is also impor…
Metformin Slows Prostate Cancer Growth and Simul…
The most prescribed drug in the world for type 2 diabetes is metformin. The last time I checked, more than 20 million Americans were taking this very old and amazingly affordable medication. What has …
Do Statins Impair Memory? The Evidence Keeps Evo…
Statins remain a never-ending source of controversy. After nearly 40 years, doctors have debated the pros and cons of statins with little resolution. Over 50 million Americans take a drug such as ator…
The Dangers of Diclofenac and Other NSAID Pain R…
Doctors love NSAIDs (nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs). That’s largely because they don’t have a lot of other tools in the toolkit when it comes to treating pain and inflammation. Opioids have…
Flu Kills. Antiviral Treatments Exist. Why Don…
or just In a moment I will ask you to step into my time machine and visit The People's Pharmacy newspaper column 43 years ago on February 7, 1983. But first... Antiviral medications have become standa…
Generic Drug Failures: When Cheap Drugs Turn Cos…
ly disappointingWhen the world's most prestigious medical journal publishes a paper titled "Substandard Generic Drugs – Threats to Patient Safety and National Security (New England Journal of Medici…
How Can You Tell If You Need a Statin?
Dr. Steve Nissen is one of the country's leading cardiologists. He has been at the forefront of cardiovascular medicine at the Cleveland Clinic for decades. Almost a decade ago he stated that "56 mill…
NasalCrom (Cromolyn Sodium) Is Surprisingly Help…
It is that time of year: sniffling, sneezing and snorting because of allergies. Such symptoms didn't use to be a big deal. What can you do to ease those symptoms and stop nighttime congestion? You've …
Statins and Brain Fog? Memory and the Microglia …
Statins seem to represent a never-ending source of controversy. These are, after all, the most prescribed drugs in America. According to our calculations, over 50 million Americans take medications su…
Are Doctors Prioritizing Pills Over Health?
Dennis Miller, R.Ph. is a retired chain store pharmacist. His book, The Shocking Truth About Pharmacy: A Pharmacist Reveals All the Disturbing Secrets, can be downloaded in its entirety at Amazon for …
What’s Good for the Heart May Not be Good for …
We have been interviewing health experts for nearly 50 years on our nationally syndicated public radio show, The People’s Pharmacy. Over the decades we have spoken with many neuroscientists about pr…
Rediscovering Low-Dose Lithium for Mood Disorder…
Lithium is a chemical element that is widespread in nature. You can find it in the earth's crust, in water and even in the food you eat. Depending upon where you live, there is a good chance that ther…
Diabetes Drugs That Can Trigger Flesh-Eating Dis…
If you watch any TV you have probably seen commercials for type-2 diabetes drugs such as Jardiance (empagliflozin) and Farxiga (dapagliflozin). You have heard the refrain, right? "Jardiance is a littl…
Drug Ads’ Death Watch: What Happened to the FD…
I like to think of myself as an optimistic person. That's why I was so gratified to read FDA Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary's article in JAMA (September 12, 2025) titled: “The FDA's Overdue Crackdown…
Does Everyone Over 75 Need Statins to Lower Chol…
The American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology have just issued new guidelines for preventing heart disease. Presumably, these organizations expect doctors to follow their new r…
Who Should Be Taking Metformin Against Cancer?
Metformin was created in the 1920s by chemists who were working with the French lilac plant (Galega officinalis). That's because healers had been using French lilac (aka goat's rue) for centuries to c…
Pain Is Personal: Unexpected Gabapentin & T…
Pain is highly subjective. An event that causes excruciating agony for one person might be perceived by another as distressing but bearable. Even the same individual may experience pain differently fr…
Should You Fortify Your Life With Vitamins and M…
Many medical professionals are skeptical about the value of multivitamins. We have heard from some health professionals that vitamins and minerals are a total waste of money. Research is accumulating,…
Health in a Hurry: Important Medical & Phar…
Health in a Hurry – March 13, 2026 Welcome to another edition of Health in a Hurry, our quick scan of medical news that might otherwise slip under the radar. This week we look at troubling pesticide…
Restless Legs Drugs and Compulsive Gambling: A H…
Most Americans assume that bad habits come down to willpower. If someone gambles away their savings, binges on food or shops compulsively, the typical response is simple: they should have exercised mo…
PPI Side Effects: Fearmongering or Legitimate Wa…
Millions of people rely on proton pump inhibitors to calm heartburn and heal ulcers. But when researchers warn about possible PPI side effects, are they offering prudent advice, or just fearmongering?…
Unexpected GLP-1 Side Effects: Fragile Bones to …
GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro and Zepbound are transforming medicine. They help people with type-2 diabetes control blood sugar and often lead to dramatic weight loss. Researchers are als…