Safe to take after expiration date?

The expiration date on bottles of over-the-counter and prescription medications tells consumers how long the drug contained within will maintain full potency and safety under ideal storage conditions.

Inspectors arrest 15 in prescription drug case

Opiates originated from Tijuana pharmacies

SAN DIEGO - U.S. border inspectors are not only seizing drugs coming into the country from Mexico - they're making arrests for drug smuggling that's going the other way.

Do you take OTC medications seriously?

According to one survey, nearly one-third of consumers polled said that they did not consider over-the-counter (OTC) medications to be as "serious" as prescribed medications. Are you among those who think this way?

How do you take your medication?

While most medications are taken in tablet or caplet (oblong tablet) form, both are composed of compressed powder that needs to dissolve in the stomach before the active ingredient is released. For faster relief, chewable tablets are absorbed as soon as they reach the stomach, and dissolvable tablets act like ground-up chewables once dissolved in the mouth. Liquid medications are absorbed as soon as they reach the digestive system. Gel caps contain liquid medication encased in a gelatin exterior. Once the stomach dissolves the outer coating, the medication is quickly absorbed. There are also tongue strips, which melt before they are absorbed in the stomach, which is just about as quick as dissolvable tablets.

Take Aspirin at first signs of heart attack

Those in the early grips of a heart attack may find that chewing an aspirin tablet will help save their lives. Heart attacks are often the result of a blood clot in the coronary artery that blocks blood flow. Aspirin may help overcome these heart events by inhibiting the formation of the blood clots. The most effective way to help restore blood flow in the event of a heart attack is to chew and swallow a regular adult-strength, 325-milligram tablet. Neither a baby-strength (81-milligram) aspirin tablet, which many heart patients take on a daily basis, nor a coated aspirin tablet, which is designed to be absorbed slowly, will suffice in the event of a heart attack.

Pfizer maneuvers to protect Lipitor from generics

TRENTON, N.J. - Lipitor is so valuable that Pfizer is practically paying people to keep taking its blockbuster cholesterol medicine after generic competition hits the U.S. market this week.

FDA allows over-the-counter morning-after pill, lifts age limit

Over-the-counter birth control? Drugmaker seeks FDA approval

Many conservative groups stress they are only interested in curtailing abortion

Pain pills

Soaring generic drug prices draw Senate scrutiny

WASHINGTON - Some low-cost generic drugs that have helped restrain health care costs for decades are seeing unexpected price spikes of up to 8,000 percent, prompting a backlash from patients, pharmacists and now Washington lawmakers.

No over-the-counter for Plan B pill

Election-year politics seen in move by Obama administration

WASHINGTON (AP) - In a surprise move with election-year implications, the Obama administration's top health official overruled her own drug regulators and stopped the Plan B morning-after pill from moving onto drugstore shelves next to the condoms.

Express Scripts cuts payments for customized drugs

PRESCRIPTION: Huge difference in prices

As a summer resident here in Coeur d’Alene, and needing to refill a common prescription while here, I was shocked when the same drug that I pay under $9 for in California costs nearly $60 at three local Coeur d’Alene drug stores — Walgreens, Rite-Aid and Fred Meyer. Someone suggested I try Costco pharmacy. I did this and they quoted the price at just under $6! In every case, the costs were for the very same drug, dosage and quantity. HOW CAN THAT BE?

Even a little too much

Much has been made recently of the potential risk posed by taking too much acetaminophen (Tylenol). As a result, the FDA has set the maximum dose of acetaminophen at 4,000 milligrams over a 24-hour period. In addition to the attention being paid to single overdoses (when a person takes too many pills at once), new evidence has emerged that reveals the dangers of so-called "staggered overdoses." This term refers to taking even slightly too much acetaminophen over a period of several days.

REFORM: U.S. drug costs grossly inflated

We have been hearing a lot about medical health reform lately from our government. This weekend I had an experience that relates directly to this situation.

Documents: 'Pill mill' was corrupt drug den

Poll: Majority of Americans want government to curb prescription costs

WASHINGTON - Move over, "Obamacare." A new poll finds Americans worried about medication costs and broadly supporting government action to curb drug prescription prices.

Morning after pill OK for ages 15 and up

PILLS: Drug companies questioned

I would like to sound off about our pharmaceutical companies and our pharmacies. In the last four months my prescriptions have changed makers four times. With each change, my pills have gotten weaker and weaker. The pharmacies are buying from the cheapest pharmaceutical companies, not caring that they are being made in China. They both only care about the money. No one is thinking about the person taking the medicine.

Business Briefly August 25, 2011

Google settles pharmacy ad probe

Are online pharmacies legitimate?

If you think that you'll get a bargain from an online pharmacy, think again. According to a 2012 analysis of nearly 1,000 online pharmacies by the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP), which accredits online pharmacies and represents state pharmacy boards all over the United States, only around 3 percent appear to be legitimate. The NABP found that 85 percent of the online drugstores it looked into do not require a valid prescription from the consumer's physician, and nearly half provided foreign drugs or medications not approved by the FDA. While there are Canadian online pharmacies that are legitimately regulated, many websites that purport to be Canadian are not. Worse yet, you may not even get the drug you ordered.