Question: How can you tell when a type of drug is good or bad do you get a physical or chemical reaction to it if it is bad?

Simon Webster answered on 1 Apr 2025:

Medicinal drugs that are made to help cure a disease or treat an illness so you get better and live longer are all chemical compounds that at the right concentrations will cause a therapeutic effect in the body. When they are taken the body will try to remove the chemicals through the liver and kidneys – that’s why we need to take the prescribed doses at the prescribed times to maintain a level of the medicine in the body so it can deliver its therapeutic effect. As we are all different we can have reactions to the chemicals – we call these side effects and these can be mild or severe reactions in our body to them. These side effects and what to do about them are usually known and written in the medicine leaflet so good idea to read that if any happen. You should also tell your doctor if you have bad side effects. The company that makes the medicine show be told also. It doesn’t mean the drug is bad – it may just mean you need a different type of the medicine.