New drugs - New profits for old product  Most new drugs are
simply old drugs with a bit of window dressing to justify double
the price tag. Yet, the dangers multiply from these novel twists
and aren’t picked up until after the drugs are taken by
millions.  When your doctor reaches for his pad, the first
question to ask him is how old the drug is that he’s prescribing
for you. If it’s less than five years old, chances are, by
taking that drug, you’re taking your life in your hands.
Medical critic Dr Joe Collier, editor of Drugs and Therapeutics
Bulletin, estimates that only 60 per cent of drugs offer more
benefit than harm - so, nearly half of all drugs do us more harm
than good.  In the US, figures from the Department of Health &
Human Services show that doctors are 9000 times more hazardous
to your health than gun owners.  Indeed, the statistics back
that up. In the US, 106,000 people die every year because of
prescription drugs. In the UK, as many people die every month
from prescription drugs as were blow