I should know by now not to read the news while enjoying my morning cup of tea. Because this morning, I nearly ended up owing my publisher a new keyboard.

The culprit was this absolutely ridiculous headline: "Give Blood Pressure Drugs to All."

Legislators in the new administration are working on food laws.  Here is a quick sample...

Dear Pharmacist,

I am constantly fatigued, my hair is thinning, and I am gaining weight. My doctor says that I have hypothyroidism and prescribed Synthroid. Can you give me more information about thyroid medications and natural ways to help myself? 

--G.A. Albany, New York

By now, you’ve probably seen the ads for Truvia, the new FDA-approved stevia-based sweetener. That’s right—I used the terms “FDA-approved” and “stevia” in the same sentence. And, on the surface, it seems like a major victory for natural supplements. But there’s much more to the stevia story—and it’s not all as rosy as the media is making it out to be.

We all know acetaminophen causes liver damage. Over a long period of time, though, right? Nothing to worry about if you're taking it for a brief time... 

Say, for a couple of weeks. No problem...right?

Wrong.

I just started taking “doxycycline” for acne.  The prescription label says to “avoid prolonged exposure to sunlight” and the guys in my apartment are razzing me because I won’t play tennis with them anymore.  My roommate says he took doxycycline before going on a cruise and nothing happened to him.  He bet me $100 to go outside for an hour, to show me that I won’t get a sunburn reaction.  Should I?   

CN, Gainesville, Florida

Have you ever wondered why there seem to be so many advertisements for erectile dysfunction (ED) medication - Viagra, Cialis, and Levitra - on television and in the magazines you are reading?  I did, and began an investigation that would ultimately become my Doctoral dissertation.  The reason is quite simple – there is a lot of erectile dysfunction (ED).  Over 30 million men in the United States suffer from it.  ED affects over 50% of men between the ages of 40 and 70 and the incidence of complete ED triples between those ages.  Even more disconcerting, experts expect cases of ED to more than double over the next 25 years.

The FDA loves a good fist fight with the supplement industry. It gives everyone the impression that they are the “good guys” out to protect the consumer against “dangerous” all-natural products.

And last month, the FDA struck a knock-out. The all-natural dietary supplement Hydroxycut has been voluntarily yanked off the market following reports of liver damage, including one person who needed a liver transplant, and one related death.

It's bad enough that people are ingesting needless pharmaceuticals into their bodies willy nilly. Now the habit of using useless - and potentially dangerous - topical drugs to treat all manner of muscle and joint pain is gaining even more popularity. But unlike most pharmaceuticals, it's an almost universally accepted truth among the medical community that most of these creams and ointments don't do anything...

Q: I was very disturbed when I heard my grandson’s pediatrician wants to prescribe an ADHD drug. Are there any other options I can tell my daughter about?