Are prescription drugs safe?

There are more than 3.6 billion prescriptions written per year in the U.S. and for the overwhelming majority of patients, those medicines have proven to be safe and effective. According to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), about 97% of the drugs it has approved over the past two decades are still on the market and considered safe. America’s pharmaceutical companies, while pleased with this performance, continue to strive for improvements to this safety record.