Former Canadian politician Terence Young became a safety advocate, starting the non-profit group Drug Safety Canada, following the tragic death of his 15 year old daughter Vanessa after taking the drug Propulsid. The drug was withdrawn from the North American market the day before Vanessa's funeral.

Terence argues in a new book that it’s essential that we all educate ourselves about drug safety. We can’t just leave it to doctors.  He says most of us have absolutely no idea about the true risks and benefits of the prescription drugs we take. And the only way we can find out this information is by asking the right questions.

So in this interview Terence explains the ten key points or rules we all need to know. For example, were you aware that a patient’s individual response to a drug can vary by 400 to 4,000 %? And why - unless there is a very good reason - you should try to avoid taking a drug less than seven years old?

Forbidden Knowledge: A Self-Advocate’s Guide to Managing Your Prescription by Terence Young is published by Dundurn Press

The host of the podcast, Liz Tucker is an award winning medical journalist and former BBC producer and director.  You can follow Liz on Twitter at https://twitter.com/lizctucker and read her Substack newsletter about the podcast at https://liztucker.substack.com

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