Are medications TODAY safer than YEARS ago?

United States
March 24, 2009 5:39pm CST
i always have heard growing up how medications years ago (like 50s-70s or earlier) were dangerous and a lot of people overdosed because they were too strong or interacted with every thing etc.. in the last year or so the FDA admitted they have only accounts for 2% of the medications a year.. the rest have never been checked.. in fact there are medications out there that have been out for like decades that they never been evaluated by the fda.. so obviously prescriptions can be unsafe at any time but do you think they are safer now (even though not policed properly) or the same as years ago? i guess we can only hope that the medical scientists are smart enough to have high standards in their part since the fda isnt doing theres!! what do you think? safer now or still a hazard just different medications?
3 people like this
10 responses
• China
30 Mar 09
yes, i know it, its realy a problem , but not a good way to solve it.
2 people like this
• United States
1 Apr 09
yeah unfortunately..
1 person likes this
@bunnybon7 (50973)
• Holiday, Florida
25 Mar 09
i think they are still a hazard. i think everyone is different with that and you just have to try not to take them but sometimes you have to take the chance to see whether good or bad, right now i have no choice. im having to take 2 antibiotics for 14 days in hopes this time the stomache infection gets cleared.
2 people like this
• United States
27 Mar 09
ugh i hope you feel better soon!
1 person likes this
@snowy22315 (182183)
• United States
25 Mar 09
I think they are probably safer than they were years ago. There are many medicines that are not as strong, and proably have been more thoroughly tested. I would feel comfortable trying medicine today than I would testing medicine of many years ago. They are safer.
2 people like this
• United States
25 Mar 09
yeah i would think they would be too
1 person likes this
@patms1 (521)
• United States
25 Mar 09
No I don't think so. At one point in my life I was on so many pill I rattled when I walked. Thank Goodness I got a very bad cold and had to stay in bed for a few days and did not take any of the medicines and was amazed to realize that I hadn't felt so good in months. Now if I take any prescribed medicines I only take them for a short time. I find over the counter products just as good and not as expensive. Watch the commercials for new medicines and they scare the heck out of you. No they are not safer and should not be taken lighty.
2 people like this
@zhuhuifen46 (3483)
• China
25 Mar 09
I should say not really. We are using too many medicines so that our immune system is deteriorating. And even worse, people are buying medicines from pharmacy as a matter of fact thinking, which make the case complicated before going to the doctor. In the last winter, I heard some elderly people passes away all from stroke, and they all regularly take aspirin as healthy cure. But those hardened lack of flexibility, aspirin can easily break up the poor thing.
2 people like this
• United States
25 Mar 09
hm i didnt know that about aspirin
1 person likes this
• Philippines
25 Mar 09
I think medications are much better now than before. Human's capabilities and technological advancements clearly showed how much medicine's effectiveness improve these past few decades. It is true that medications are hazardous but it is much different now than before. I believe that medications available today are safer because it had more time and knowledge to achieve that point of effectiveness and safety. Though today's medications are safer, my stand here is that anything that is wrongly used are hazardous. Even a pillow can kill someone if it is used in a wrong manner.
2 people like this
• United States
27 Mar 09
yeah anything can kill some one if misused
1 person likes this
• Canada
9 Oct 09
In some ways there have been some amazing advances in medications that have made them more affective and a lot saver, but on the other hand, doctors are getting too much money for prescribing them, and so medications are being used unnecessarily, and that isn'tt all that safe.
1 person likes this
• United States
18 Nov 09
yeah true.. its insane how docs just want to over medicate people... when i first found out i had fibro i went to a guy i was told knew like everything so i did EVERYTHING he said and i was on like 9 meds with them being a mix of anti-depressants and pain killers all at once and i was all screwed up.. i finally realized i wasnt getting better and it sure as heck wasnt going to help me if i was taking it for no reason and stopped it all.. of course now im on 7 but some of those are like for asthma and allergies etc so its not all in one type lol
@dom1312 (27)
• India
25 Mar 09
I do feel that medicines today are quite safe with regard to their side effects. As compared to earlier times, there are lot of regulations. Also newer medicines are made available only after adequate trials. As for their misuse, that is upto the government to monitor their sales and availability. Medicines should be consumed only as per doctor's prescription. Even common pain killers can be dangerous for people suffering from asthma, stomach ulcers. Just for knowledge, low dose aspirin is prescribed to elderly, having history of high BP or high fat levels in blood, to prevent clots in blood vessels which may cause stroke or cardiac arrest.
1 person likes this
• United States
27 Mar 09
seems like they just recently admitted to the tylenol thing..
@nautilus33 (1827)
27 Nov 09
Hi. I think medications today are safer than years ago. I don't take any medications, but I can judge by my friends. They get better faster with the new medications, than with the medications from 1 0r 2 years ago. Also the small pox doesn't appear in present days, but years ago there were small pox epidemics every year. And that proves, that the new medications are safer and effectiver.
• United States
28 Nov 09
kind of makes you wonder though with every step we take in the right direction are we somehow making risks in different areas that we dont know about till later
• United States
26 Nov 09
WOW! That is CRAZY! BTw, my mom says the meds they gave her for the Fibromyalgia are NOT working what-so-ever, so she is going to quit taking them when she gets out of the hospital.
1 person likes this
• United States
28 Nov 09
they usually say rule of thumb at most it will take 6 weeks but i know i either feel it within a week or not and i havent tried the brand new one but all the others they do for fibro hasnt done me any good either