By Martha Rosenberg

Since the Purple Pill, Nexium, was invented it has become the second best selling US drug, after Lipitor. Nexium and the other Proton-Pump Inhibitors (PPI) to treat gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), became household medications thanks to direct-to-consumer advertising. After the slick drug ads ran on TV, millions believed  they were at risk for GERD. (Before Proton-Pump Inhibitors, people took over-the-counter treatments like Tums or Tagamet when they had heartburn or indigestion.) But Nexium may not be as safe as people think. In 2012, the FDA warned the public that Nexium and the whole class of PPIs are linked to Clostridium Difficile, a stubborn and sometimes deadly intestinal infection that is becoming increasingly drug resistant and hard to treat. The drugs have also been linked to calcium and magnesium deficiencies,  pneumonia and Vitamin B-12 deficiencies. 

Fosamax 

Merck's Fosamax was the first of the anti-osteoporosis drugs called biphosphonates that included Boniva and Actonel. But soon after it was in wide use, it was linked to heart problems, intractable pain, jawbone death and even the bone fractures it was supposed to prevent!  Fosamax was also linked to esophageal cancer in a top medical journal. Merck installed bone density scanners in medical offices across the US to scare women into taking Fosamax if their scans revealed thinning bones, reported National Public Radio a few years ago. Wide scale marketing told women their bones would thin or break without the dubious drug. Of course eating right, including calcium and Vitamin D supplements and regular weight-bearing exercise has long been known to prevent fractures and thinning bones. 

Lipitor 

Lipitor was the best selling medication in the history of prescription drugs. It made $125 billion in 14 and a half years and gained use by 29 million people. Lipitor's success stemmed from its launch in 1997 when direct-to-consumer drug advertising was just starting and very powerful and the growing national fear of cholesterol-linked heart attacks. But recently the FDA revealed Lipitor and the other statins in its group may not be as safe as believed. The agency make a label change that warned that Lipitor and other statins could cause diabetes, liver injury, muscle damage and memory impairment. Of course there is a cheaper and safer way to avoid the risk of cholesterol-linked heart attacks. Avoid cholesterol containing food. 

For more information about popular prescription drug risks, read Martha Rosenberg's award-cited expose Born with a Junk Food Deficiency: How Flacks, Quacks and Hacks Pimp the Public Health (Random House) http://www.randomhouse.com/book/230995/born-with-a-junk-food-deficiency-by-martha-rosenberg