Dangers in the use of some potent drugs.

The chief dangers reported with some common drugs are reviewed. Hazards of antibiotic therapy include: the increasing incidence of sensitization to penicillin with occasional anaphylactic reactions; aplastic anemia with chloramphenicol, and the poor tolerance of infants for chloramphenicol; staphylococcal enterocolitis; unnecessary "prophylactic" use of antibiotics. Thiazide diuretics may precipitate potassium depletion, skin reactions, pancreatitis, blood dyscrasias, gout, diabetes mellitus and hepatic coma. Reserpine can increase gastric acidity, induce mental depression, and when used with digitalis lead to ventricular premature beats. Hydralazine may aggravate angina pectoris, cause tachycardia, and bring about a syndrome resembling disseminated lupus erythematosus. Guanethidine may result in loose stools, impotence, and postural hypotension. Hazards of phenothiazines include jaundice, parkinsonian states and tremors, convulsions, hypotension, and blood dyscrasias. The butanediols have numerous side effects including gastrointestinal, cutaneous and hypotensive reactions. Prolonged corticosteroid therapy introduces a new danger in surgical treatment. The progesterone-like drugs may induce masculinization of the female fetus.