Reporting Side Effects Directly to the FDA

There is a 1800# and website to report adverse side effects of drugs to the FDA directly. The FDA currently is offering this information on print ads, but not on tv ads. This articles tells that the Consumers Union is now appealing to the FDA to get this information out in TV ads, along with the print ad campaign. They have compelling statistics - among those who take prescription drugs, one in six experienced a serious side effect. Only thirty-five percent of these people knew that you could report the side effect to the FDA directly. Eighty-one percent had seen or heard a drug ad in the last month, but ninety-one percent had seen this ad on tv. So, by putting this number on television ads, it would reach the majority demographic of prescription drug users.

The 1800# is: 1-800-FDA-1088 and the website to report side effects direct to the FDA is www.fda.gov/medwatch.