Today, the World Health Organization recognizes depression as one of the top four disabling diseases in the world! Clinical depression is much more than a case of the blues. Depression is both a mental and emotional state, a feeling of being in a box that you can’t escape. It’s closely tied to illness; over 80% of terminal cancer patients have a history of chronic depression.

Q: I’m in my 60s and was diagnosed with asthma a couple of years ago. I was put on an albuterol inhaler, but my insurance made me switch doctors—and my new doctor prescribed Advair and Singulair. I don’t know much about them, but I’ve heard about some scary side effects. I’m not sure whether I should take them.

––Ann B., St. Paul, MN

Parents are starting to realize how dangerous ADHD drugs can be—Adderall may cause a pounding or uneven heartbeat and hallucinations, and Ritalin (which may be habit- forming) may cause aggressive behavior and dangerously high blood pressure. And that's just the tip of the iceberg on both drugs.

So, increasingly, parents have been turning to alternative treatments for their children. Which is great.

But it left Big Pharma scrambling for a new target.

The H1N1 virus (swine flu) has had a relatively mild run in the U.S. so far, with about 550 virus-related deaths reported to the CDC. Worldwide, it‘s caused about 2,000 deaths.

Unfortunately, we haven‘t seen the end of H1N1. Government officials say as many as 60 million Americans could get hit with the virus this winter.

But don‘t worry. The CDC has it under control. The new H1N1 vaccine will protect you from this deadly pandemic!

Do you think the FDA is out to get depressed people? Based on its unfathomable approval record – giving the go-ahead to clearly dangerous drugs – that seems to be the only possible explanation. And now Pristiq, one of the newest antidepressants, is racking up even more ways to make depressed people even sicker.

It's still barely out of the gate, and already Pristiq is slapped with yet another warning.

All you want to do is climb into bed, crawl under the covers, and make everything go away. The throbbing pain in your head, the searing light, the intense nausea. Make it all go away.

But you can’t. You’re having a migraine. And they never just “go away” by crawling under the covers.

Dear Pharmacist,

I am hearing more about the Swine Flu and I’m getting nervous.  I wasn’t going to get the vaccine, but I’m reconsidering it. Can you help me make this decision?

--E.B. Boston, Massachusetts

In a startling moment of honesty, an FDA spokesperson recently made this announcement: "The FDA obviously has a friendly relationship with drug companies compared to our relatively cool relationship with supplement makers. So of course we're likely to apply more lenient standards to drug companies while pretty much sticking it to supplement companies."

The news about Gardasil keeps getting worse. A report has recently come to light revealing that docs from as many as three respected medical associations accepted money from Merck to promote this dangerous and unnecessary vaccine.