According to a study recently conducted by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), reports of harmful, sometimes fatal, side effects associated with widely used prescription and over-the-counter (OTC) medications tripled between 1998 and 2005. During that seven-year period, nearly 490,000 serious complications were reported; and the number of deaths per year caused by side effects rose from 5,519 to 15,107. All classes of drugs, even such common over-the-counter (OTC) pain-relievers as aspirin and ibuprofen, can be dangerous if not taken precisely as directed.
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