Description: This hard-hitting expose does for prescription drugs what Silent Spring did for pesticides, revealing the hidden dangers of the most commonly prescribed medications -- and what the consumer can do to minimize the risks of serious side effects.

Prescription medicines are so dangerous that they pose a 26 percent lifetime risk of serious injury to every American who uses them. But the monitoring of approved drugs is so poor that 99 percent of adverse effects are never reported. Meanwhile, doctors make so many prescribing errors that one out of five older Americans take drugs that are potentially harmful.

From flawed testing by drug companies to careless behavior by consumers, "Prescription for Disaster" documents the breakdown of a system that doesn't protect the public.

Whether it's Prozac, estrogen, or Ritalin; sedatives or allergy pills; medication for pain, high cholesterol, or blood pressure -- the drugs that we rely on are the focus of this well-documented and surprising book.

"Prescription for Disaster" also shows consumers how to discover the most serious risks of drugs they are taking and how to weigh the benefits of prescription medicines against those risks -- all the while dealing with our difficult and often confusing health-care system.

Please Wait