Covering problem drugs, this book looks at what it claims is a massive misuse of drugs resulting from the way they are prescribed and used. It argues that the industry's drive for profit is creating a global marketplace littered with products which are ineffective, in appropriate, irrational, useless or needlessly expensive. The book covers: antidiarrhoeals, antibiotics, analgesics, cough and cold preparations, growth stimulants, brain tonics, vitamins, drugs in pregnancy. contraceptives, hormone replacement therapy and psychotropics. It documents the dangerous products still available, the preparations containing ingredients that do not do what they claim, the irrational combinations, the needlessly expensive products and the drugs which are not necessary. It argues that irrational drug use has its own consequences for public health, including treatment failures, patients suffering from unnecessary side effects, increase in antibiotic-resistant micro-organisms and the waste of patients' money and scarce national health resources. Health workers are dependent on the pharmaceutical industry for unbiased comparative information about the medicines they use. The book claims that the industry spends more on marketing than research, emphasizing the positive aspects of products and on the attributes that are perceived to give the product a marketing edge. It highlights the areas where action can be taken to remove products that are ineffective, irrational or potentially hazardous.