Bitter Pills: Inside the Hazardous World of Legal Drugs

I didn't know about Stephen Fried and "Bitter Pills," much less quinolone antibiotics, until I myself was, like Mr. Fried's wife, "Floxed," just a few weeks ago. I began my search for information on reactions to quinolones after four days of gatifloxacin (brandname Tequin) left me with tingling and weak arms and legs, difficulty swallowing and breathing, visual disturbances, headaches, dizziness, and more. I seriously thought... Read Full Review

"Bitter Pills" is the real-life version of "Strong Medicine" by Arthur Hailey. With a very personal beginning resulting from his wife's near death and slow recovery from taking ONE PILL (Floxin), author Fried went on to find whether there were other victims (many), and why the drug was approved in the first place. Interviews in profusion show why the FDA has its problems. Examples are given of the tendency of drug companies... Read Full Review

This book begins as a personal story. One day journalist Stephen Fried was forced to rush his wife, novelist Diane Ayres, to an emergency room, when she suffered a severe seizure. She turned out to be suffering an adverse reaction to an antibiotic, Floxin, which she had been instructed to take for a minor urinary infection. "Bitter Pills" grew out of Fried's attempts to understand what had happened to his wife.Fried, and... Read Full Review

I read this book at least a year ago but am still impressed by the story and the thoroughness of the author. I found it especially chilling because it is something I can imagine happening to me. Like Fried's wife, Diane, I too suffered a mild closed-head injury from an automobile accident as a child. Also like Diane, this injury has never given me problems and so I have never had reason to worry the subject - never considering... Read Full Review

Five cheers! Have you ever taken a prescription drug? Has your doctor ever given you free samples and said, "Let's try this; it's new." Fried takes his wife's severe neuropsychiatric reaction to a new antibiotic as the jumping off point for a spell-binding review of the US drug approval process. I have some first-hand knowledge of the process, and found the book to be right on target (with a quibble over his account of... Read Full Review