The problem with a media-megaphoned report about a drug's potential side effect is that it too easily balloons into a fear-driven avoidance of a life-saving group of drugs.

A recent survey from IMS Health reveals that Vicodin is the most frequently prescribed painkiller in the US, with 131 million prescriptions written over the past year alone.

Use of generic drugs has grown dramatically in the US, to the point where currently almost 75% of the drugs we use are generic.

Potassium iodide is a useful medication. It is also poorly understood, and has functioned as a "fear pill" in the current climate of radiation worries.

Influenza, like all viruses, has a simple structure. A package of genetic material (in this case RNA), is covered by a protein envelope.

Johnson & Johnson has received a lot of criticism lately because of the McNeil recalls of cold medicines, especially those for children. Factories must follow protocols which include sterility and proper oversights.

Good old aspirin, therapeutic compound derived from willow bark, take a well-deserved bow. Well-publicized cases of aspirin induced bleeding are not the topic du jour.

I and every other clinician who treats patients with the common blood thinner warfarin (Coumadin) have a problem.

There is an ongoing revolution occurring in the treatment of cancer. Unfortunately, it is easy for the public to miss the growing excitement for the new targeted therapies and vaccines because of the typical news media fascination with bad news rather than good.

There is a lot of confusion about this year's flu vaccine, in part because last year's novel H1N1 mild flu pandemic broke the usual mold on flu.