Includes bibliographical references (pages 255-308) and index.

If you are among the forty-six percent of Americans who take at least one prescription drug daily, here is why you should read Dr. Jay S. Cohen's Over Dose: Medication reactions are the fourth leading cause of death in the United States, linked with more than 100,000 deaths annually; Avoidable dose-related side effects cause millions of people to discontinue vital treatment for serious conditions such as high blood pressure, hypercholesterolemia, and osteoporosis; This "side-effect epidemic" is due mainly to unnecessarily high medication doses that are developed by the drug companies and approved by the FDA; Rather than ensure that people receive only as much medication as they need, drug companies often choose doses that support marketing strategies and make prescribing easy for doctors; More than half of our drugs, after being deemed "safe" by the FDA, are subsequently found to have previously unrecognized, medically serious side effects, most of which are dose-related; For one in five drugs, dosages are ultimately lowered years after FDA approval -- after millions of people have received the higher doses; Doses are not adequately tailored for the differing needs of women and the elderly. These groups are at the greatest risk; Over Dose shows you how to work with your doctor to take charge of your own prescription health and provides practical information and lower effective dosages -- based on clinical studies -- that your doctor can consider for some of the nation's best-selling drugs.

How safe are the drugs you're taking? In Over Dose, a leading medical researcher shows how Americans are being overmedicated, resulting in millions of avoidable side effects, and how consumers can protect their health.

A recent headline in The New York Times read "Too Much of Good Thing? Doctor Challenges Drug Manual." The article described Dr. Jay S. Cohen's new report maintaining that drug manufacturers' recommended doses appearing in the Physicians' Desk Reference are too high for many people and are causing a slew of unnecessary adverse reactions, "ranging from dizziness and nausea all the way to death."

Drug reactions in hospitals are among the nation's leading causes of death, killing more than 100,000 Americans a year. What's more, the "side-effect epidemic" causes many people -- as high as fifty percent of those on blood pressure medication -- to discontinue treatment.

The problem, reports Dr. Cohen in this vital book, stems not only from poor research methods on the part of drug companies, but from a deliberate effort to create easy, one-size-fits-all dosages that both appeal to doctors and produce inflated effectiveness statistics. Drawing on his own research and on hundreds of other sources, Dr. Cohen explains why most side effects occur at the very doses recommended by drug companies.

Dr. Cohen also reveals how drug companies slant drug research, skew reported findings, hide unfavorable results, manipulate the publishing process, threaten researchers planning to publish negative findings, and spend billions to influence doctors. He shows how the FDA approves unsafe drugs and improper dosages, and why its monitoring of newly approved drugs is inadequate. The result is a side-effect epidemic that has continued for decades.

Dr. Cohen does more than expose these misguided policies -- he shows you how to better understand what your doctor is prescribing and how to work with your health care professionals to monitor and control your drug intake. He offers safety recommendations that you should raise with your doctor, and provides practical information and lower effective dosages -- based on clinical studies -- that your doctor can consider for some of the nation's best-selling drugs, including a wide range of anti-depressant, cholesterol-lowering, anti-inflammatory, blood pressure, and hormonal medications. For the forty-six percent of Americans who take at least one prescription medication each day, Over Dose may literally be a lifesaver.