FDA Index on Drug Alerts

I spent a little time looking around today and there are many "red stars" on this page, which indicate a safety alert from the FDA. Safety alerts come in all shapes and sizes and a red start does not mean to stop taking medications by any means, just an awareness to help both the clinicians and patients be aware, and enter into the individual decision making processes for treatments.

The days of bliss as far as not knowing about potential side effects and more about the entire composition of a drug are going by the way side as transparency in every thing we do in life is becoming a focus. Sure, it makes the decision making process a lot more difficult, and we all suffer from information overload in research, whether we are looking for a new bicycle or needing information on our health care treatments.

Transparency brings much to light that we didn't have to deal with before, and it has both positives and negatives, so here we are, somewhat up to us to do some sorting out. Breakthroughs of all types are in the news today, daily, I know I read through and try to figure out why I might consider something that may need some attention and thus share with others, that's kind of the focus here with looking at the "kitchen sink" of healthcare. Some days there are many great newsworthy items and on other days, it's the old story of the economic dollars in healthcare, and nobody likes those stories including me when it comes down to affecting someone's access to health care or denial of treatment plans, but they are here for the same reason, to create an awareness.

I think by today's standards we can pretty much trash the old saying of "ignorance is bliss" as today it can end up putting us on the short end of the stick, so that's one for the history books. If you have questions on a certain drug, take a look around and discuss with your physician, as chances are he/she is doing the same thing, along with keeping in touch with new developments as they are made available. If you have time for a podcast or need some further resources, you can try this section of the FDA as well. BD

Note: This Index does not include all FDA approved drugs. It includes only those with Healthcare Professional, Patient, and Consumer Information Sheets, Medication Guides, and Information Pages. Please use Drugs@FDA to search for information on a drug not found in the Index.