Medicines

Why are some medicines phased out? Is it really true that they were found toxic or were they just so good that the patients stopped coming?

Years back my husband was prescribed Hismanal for his early morning colds. He took that for a month at least and lo and behold, his colds hardly came back. Now Hismanal which a US president purportedly took, is no more.

Dimetapp tablet was also very good. Now they no longer sell it in tablet form but as a syrup . And the main ingredient has been replaced.

Tonight my husband asked if I had Ornex. The doctor saw that his ear was clogged and prescribed the medicine. Ornex is the decongestant of choice of several doctors. But it no longer is sold in the Philippines but apparently, the doctor who prescribed it didn't know?

Years back I went to a doctor who prescribed me a medicine for my aching knees (he thought I had rheumatism). When I went to the drugstore, I was told it was not a capsule but a tablet (or vice versa), which was contrary to what was written in the doctor's prescription. When I called the doctor to verify, he seemed annoyed. Maybe he thought I was making a mountain out of a molehill?

Years back, a drug company was promoting a cough syrup on TV. Miguel Rodriguez was one of the show's hosts. He opened the bottle, took a sip and said, "it tastes good." That amused/dismayed me because who in his right mind takes a sip of a medicine for the sake of finding out how it tastes?

Years back I was made to drink Ipesandrine for my acute bronchitis. Years later I found out it had a narcotic ingredient. The medicine had a picture of leaves on the label -- wonder what those leaves were such that the medicine has since been pulled out of the market. But it was really effective.

Another medicine that helped me when I thought I would die because of asthma was Nethaprin Dospan. I think I was in grade school or early high school when I took it. Still another was Optalidon for my toothaches, a perennial problem way back. When I look for them in PIMS/MIMs, I no longer see them. Thank God they were around when I needed them.

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I just checked: Ipesandrine had opium/ephedrine. My goodness gracious!

Optalidon was mere Ibuprofen which comes in many different forms now.