Should You Get Your Drug Information from an Actor?

If you have osteoporosis, you might ask your doctor about prescribing the drug Boniva. After all, Sally Field takes it, so it must be good, right? Dr. Andrew Weil says, not necessarily.

Sally Field is a talented actor. But what qualifies her to promote Boniva, an osteoporosis drug that is of limited benefit, has worrisome side effects, and for which there are natural alternatives that merit careful consideration?

In "What's Wrong with American Medicine?" I point out that many high-technology treatments have a shadow side. In most areas of life, technological development has made services better and cheaper, but (with a few notable exceptions) it has made health care worse and more expensive. The result: an unhealthy populace and an economy that's lurching toward disaster. Read more