Medication: The Facts on Prescription, Over-the-Counter, and Herbal Medications
Medications have many forms. When taken correctly, they can be lifesaving, but if misused or abused, their effects can be deadly. The sites featured in this guide can help you learn about medications by distinguishing between the different kinds, providing usage instructions and overviews of specific drugs, outlining ways to find help paying for medication, and more.
Expand All Guide SectionsTypes of Medication
The types of medication that people take at home can be divided into two groups: prescription and ... read more »
Medication Information
Alcohol will decrease antibiotics’ effectiveness. People who take a group of psychiatric ... read more »
Help Paying for Prescription Drugs
It costs pharmaceutical companies millions of dollars to research medicines, get a prescription ... read more »
Medication Management
Medications are largely safe, but like anything else, accidents can happen. Because millions of ... read more »
Drug News
Pharmaceutical research is a multi-billion-dollar industry that changes every day. These sites have drug news and research on medications and herbal supplements.
Dulcinea's Insight
- If you’re interested in staying up to date on drug news, like safety alerts, recalls, or advisories, sign up for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s MedWatch e-mail updates. If a medication you’re taking is recalled, call your doctor immediately. There could be complications if you suddenly stop taking a medicine.
Dulcinea's Picks
For information on drug news …
The American Pharmacists Association
has a page of drug-related news taken from services and publications such as the FDA, DrugInfoLine, and Pharmacy Today.
For herbal supplement news and research …
The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine
is part of the National Institutes of Health. The news page contains alerts and advisories, along with internal news about the institute itself.
ScienceDaily
has a page devoted to news articles about herbal and dietary supplements.
Topix
collects articles and blog posts from around the world. Type “herbal supplements” or the name of a specific supplement you’re interested in into the search box at the top of the page to get the latest news available.
Swedish Medical Center
has an article titled “Study Finds That Most Online Information About Herbal Supplements Is Misleading.” The study analyzed nearly 450 Web sites to see what they said about the most popular supplements, such as Saint-John’s-wort, ginseng, and echinacea. More than half the sites analyzed claimed the supplement advertised could prevent, cure, or treat a specific disease, and such claims are against the law.
The Tang Center for Herbal Medicine Research
at the University of Chicago has information on research into herbal supplements and conditions such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
For recalls and warnings …
The FDA
posts recall information and other important consumer notices, such as drug warnings. The following articles warn consumers about drugs that are widely distributed, advertised, and consumed without FDA approval and without any proof of effectiveness: “FDA Announces that Companies Must Stop Marketing Suppository Products Containing Trimethobenzamide” and “Drugs Marketed in the United States That Do Not Have Required FDA Approval”).
The Consumers Union
is a nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting consumers’ rights. This page has Consumers Union articles about drug effectiveness and cost, generic medication, and Medicare.
Recalls.gov
has updated lists of all recalled drugs, vaccines, medical devices, and other biological products.
© 2012 Dulcinea Media, Inc.
