[Xeoncross]

I agree with both of you, but let me combine the thoughts.

An unknown number of medical advances do more good than harm. Maybe it's over 50%, maybe not.

Regardless, from the US citizens I've spoken with in several states, people often are not educated about know side effects when being put on a new drug. Many drugs have serious side effects and since most people are put on several over the course of a treatment, people need to be aware of the potential danger to a different area of their live / lively hood.

Medical error is still arguably the 3rd largest killer of US citizens, so misinformation (or a lack of communication) about side effects is very present as well.

[Domenic_S]

> people often are not educated about know side effects when being put on a new drug

Since you're talking about the US, that's a defect with the people, not system. When you pick up a medicine from the pharmacy, the cashier asks if you want a consult with the pharmacist to talk about the medicine (including side effect). You can decline.

The medicine itself comes with an insert outlining usage and side effects in great detail.

If you don't know possible side effects of a medicine you're taking, you've got nobody to blame but yourself.

[tcj_phx]

> The medicine itself comes with an insert outlining usage and side effects in great detail.

Senator Nelson called hearings (1970) when women started dropping dead from their birth control prescriptions [1]. The outcome of the hearings was that the drug companies had to warn their customers that their prescriptions might have side effects.

Eventually the drug companies realized women didn't need so much estrogen to shut down their menstrual cycles. All the old high-estrogen pills have now been withdrawn, but a few women still react very poorly to their birth control prescriptions. Doctors commonly don't consider the role that birth control plays in their patients' problems.

[1] http://swindledandpimped.org/womens_health_a_modern_tragedy/...

[Xeoncross]

I agree people should read, but it starts with the doctors.

By the time they arrive to pickup a prescription they have already discussed everything with their doctor. It's kind of late to start questioning if this is the best choice or if there are other alternatives.

Though some still do.