Why Do Prescription Medicines Have So Many Side Effects?

Go to the health food store and you will see that all their vitamins, supplements, herbals, essences, nutraceuticals and homeopathic remedies are good for you. Go to the pharmacy and you get a long list of serious or annoying medication side effects with every pill bottle.

I end up having to explain to my patients that there is a mandate to do this, partly to protect patients and partly to protect pharmaceutical companies from lawsuits by patients who might say “if I had known this blood pressure medicine could cause dizziness I would never have started it, because I am a trapeze artist/roofer/lineman.

I also have to explain that if lots of people during the testing of a new medication report ordinary symptoms, like upper respiratory infection or back pain, those symptoms may make it onto the side effect list, even if there is no reasonable explanation why this could happen.

There is no law that requires disclosure of side effects from non-prescription medications in general. So it is an uneven playing field.