Who would have thought, that medicines could actually be dangerous for us besides saving our lives at some point. Sure many strong medicines have side-effects but to become dangerous at some point is a totally different thing. Let’s look at 10 of such controversial medicines of the recent past.
- MMR VACCINE CONTROVERSY
It was a medicinal vaccine that was administered to young and small children for treating them for measles, mumps and rubella. But a startling discovery was made in the 1998 publication in the medical journal which made the parents lose a sleep or two of their nights.
The vaccine that apparently seemed innocent enough was a small time bomb in waiting. It was found with enough evidence that this vaccine created the symptoms of autism spectrum disorders. It was a serious scientific malfunction that was covered up by the doctors in question. It was a defective medicine that was covered up by the companies and scientists, and the normal public was fooled, and they continued to sell it until it was made public by the research journal. The companies in question were sued along with the creators for ethical misconduct. It was created during the time when the scare was high related to measles, mumps and rubella.
- AVANDIA (ROSIGLITAZONE)
This medicine has been used by doctors to treat the type 2 diabetes. Those who take this drug especially are completely unaware of the side effects that this medicine causes. Yes, a woman taking Avandia for higher diabetes may never know that this medicine is what will result in higher chances of suffering fractures in hand and foot due to this medicine. This medicine weakens the bones, and since women have weaker bones as compared to men thus this puts them at a higher risk. There have been suits against the company to call back this medicine as many fractures have been linked with the Avandia intake.
- DARVOCET
It is a common painkiller that has been taken by people now and then whether young or old, but what people do not know is that this medicine puts them at a higher risk for heart diseases. It is a potentially dangerous medicine as it increases the chances of heart problems in the patient. A patient may start hallucinating and may even walk to his own death. This medicine is such a huge hazard that it is being forced to be called back as it is resulting in huge number of deaths. The estimated deaths that have occurred due to this medicine are around 2,110 in the last nine years!!! That’s a huge number considering that this medicine was supposed to relieve people of pain!!!
A common drug given during pregnancy for anti-fungal treatment has been seen to be the cause of many birth defects that are later found in children of the mothers administered with it. It has been found that many children are born with defects due to the consumption of this medicine. It is a very normal drug that’s used quite often, but since now many issues are being linked with it; the medicine is slowly disappearing from the market.
It is a very common medicine that’s advised by doctors to the patients who are above the age of 40. It is used as a blood thinning medicine and reduces the chances of stroke in the patients due to thick blood. But recently it has been found that this medicine is responsible for really heavy bleeding in the users. There were around 260 real fatal bleedings worldwide as a reason for which the countries of Japan and Austria have banned the use/ selling of this drug.
It has been recently declared after the analytical study of 5 years that the drug Actos, which is usually prescribed by the doctors to Diabetes patients carry a very high risk of renal and bladder cancer. It has been considered as very serious and potential risk for those who consume it. Earlier it was just a whim but now it has been confirmed. The major ethical lapse is that the writing panel of this drug does not contain any warning with regards to the potential risk that it carries. The company has been ordered to add it into their warning labels.
Zocor is a medicine that is given to lower the cholesterol of the patients. The patients consuming Zocor may breathe a sigh of relief that they will have their cholesterol under control. But what they do not know and aren’t aware of is that this medicine causes a serious issue with their muscles. It causes muscle seizures and also in the long run makes the person lose out on the feel of the muscles resulting in freezing of the muscles.
It is medicine that is generally administered during heart surgeries to speed up the process of clotting. It is a very effective and efficient medicine that really does what it is supposed to do but it has been generally noticed that this medicine usually causes the people it has been administered to die younger. The mortality rate after the use of this medicine was found to be really high. Its use now has been reduced to near zero percent and this is how the company plans to remove it from future use.
These medicines are generally given to to-be-mothers to curb their anxiety and depression, but what they do not know that the medicine that they are taking is not only seriously harmful for them but also for there to-be-born baby. Yes, the use of this medicine causes the mothers to suffer psychologically and causes them to be disturbed and sometimes over doses cause nervous breakdowns. As for the baby, it causes serious birth defects in the baby which are related to heart and bones. The baby formation is also sometime seriously hampered.
A medicine that was recently talked a lot about in the news for the adverse effects that it was causing. The medicine is used to treat irregular heart rhythms. It was recently recalled because the medicine is said to contain double the named chemical which causes bleeding, irregular heartbeats, drowsiness and vomiting. It is a very serious matter as it is a medicine used to treat the heart conditions.
there’s no real link between the mmr vaccine and autism. you didn’t really make that clear