Taking more than one prescription drug? Read This

A new study just came out that looked at the million or so people that are taking Paxil and Pravachol, an antidepressant and a cholesterol lowering agent.  They found that in combination, they have the undesired effect of raising blood glucose.  This is such a pronounced effect that if someone takes these meds and is pre-diabetic, it could throw them into full blown diabetes.  

"These kinds of drug interactions are almost certainly occurring all of the time, but, because they are not part of the approval process by the Food and Drug Administration, we can only learn about them after the drugs are on the market," said Russ Altman, professor of medicine at Stanford.

What about other drugs that millions of people take in combination?  It's acknowledged that individual drugs have their adverse effects, and now it's clear that any combination of drugs at all can have unwanted effects.