Listen: Are the medications you take safe?

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In a new podcast episode, a doctor argues we need to strengthen the FDA’s approval process on certain prescription drugs.

For a more than a century, the Food and Drug Administration has worked to protect public health. In his research, Harvard University physician-researcher Jerry Avorn has examined how the FDA’s once-rigorous gold standard approval process has been affected by a powerful shortcut known as the Accelerated Approval Program—originally designed for desperate AIDS and cancer patients.

He says that change in the 1990s has allowed more than half of all new drugs onto the market before drug companies have proven they actually help people.

In his new book Rethinking Medications: Truth, Power and the Drugs We Take (Simon & Schuster, 2025), Avorn cites numerous examples: from a cold medicine that doesn’t de-congest to billion-dollar cancer treatments that only shrink lab results to the controversial Alzheimer’s drug Aduhelm—approved despite no clear cognitive benefits.

In this episode, Avorn explores whether some prescriptions in your medicine cabinet are safe, effective, and worth the money:

Read the transcript for this episode.

Source: University of Chicago

Wegovy, Rybelsus, and Ozempic are among the newest drugs to capture global attention, moving swiftly from diabetes treatment into the broader market for weight loss. Their success stories have fueled both optimism and caution: millions of patients now see them as a lifeline, while researchers warn that evidence about long-term safety and durability is still limited. Placed alongside other fast-tracked approvals—from Alzheimer’s drugs to costly oncology therapies—they underscore how quickly enthusiasm can outpace the science meant to protect patients.