FDA approved substances

[jimtron]

Anyone know where I can find an online list of all (or at least many) FDA approved substances? I found some info on the FDA site, including a page that lists approvals by month, but I'm looking for one long list in one page or document.

On another forum I'm involved in a discussion where a poster said that "The very label of FDA approved is now synonymous with Poison", so as part of my reply I'd like to mention some drugs or other substances that have been approved and are obviously safe.

I did find this which was super extra fantastically unhelpful.

 

[JJM]

... On another forum I'm involved in a discussion where a poster said that "The very label of FDA approved is now synonymous with Poison", so as part of my reply I'd like to mention some drugs or other substances that have been approved and are obviously safe. ...

First, people who write things like that are usually uneducable.

Second, you can never prove that anything is "safe." You have to set limits. For example, penicillin is non-toxic to humans; but it can be deadly allergenic in a small portion of the population. That is, you can't die from an overdose (unless a hundred pound sack of it falls on you from a sufficient height); but it can elicit serious death in some people.

Small amounts of aspirin are useful in some cases; but an overdose will kill you. The same is true for water, alcohol, licorice, etc.

By the same token, you can't prove that anything is deadly. I have survived exposure to cyanide (and many other poisons), and lived to type about it. (I am a chemist.)

Pharmacologists have defined the "therapeutic index" (TI) of a drug. Since I don't exactly remember the definition- I'll just say it relates how much of a drug is beneficial compared to the ammount of the drug that is toxic. All drugs have a TI, and they can even have undesirable side-effects when used at the therapeutic amount. Then, you have to consider the condition being treated.

Many anticancer drugs are noxious- you have to balance the side-effects against your desire to live longer than you would without treatment.

The "Physician's Desk Reference" ( generally known as the PDR) is a pretty good compendium of approved drugs. I don't find it useful, though, because I lack clinical experience.

 

[Chris Haynes]

Here is a list of the currently licensed vaccines:
http://www.fda.gov/cber/vaccine/licvacc.htm

Another big list:
http://www.fda.gov/cber/ep/part3.htm

What you want to do is muck around here: http://www.fda.gov/cber/products.htm

Also, if you want to find information on a specific drug go here:
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginformation.html

 

[Chris Haynes]

...Small amounts of aspirin are useful in some cases; but an overdose will kill you. The same is true for water, alcohol, licorice, etc.

By the same token, you can't prove that anything is deadly. I have survived exposure to cyanide (and many other poisons), and lived to type about it. (I am a chemist.) ....

That cyanide was not me! Honest!

Oh, and acetaminophen is much more deadly:
http://distractiblemind.ambulatorycomputing.com/2006/12/03/my-worst-night-as-a-doctor/http://distractiblemind.ambulatorycomputing.com/2006/12/03/my-worst-night-as-a-doctor/http://distractiblemind.ambulatorycomputing.com/2006/12/03/my-worst-night-as-a-doctor/

(since I have a daughter about that age, I threw out or hid all the tylenol)

 

[Lisa Simpson]

Here there are links to the FDA's listing of GRAS (Generally Recognized As Safe) products.

http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/grasguid.html#Q16

 

[jimtron]

Thanks folks!