List of useless and ineffective medicines. List of ineffective drugs-pacifiers. Active ingredient: extract of medicinal plants. Other names: "Tonsipret", "Bronchipret"

In general, I agree with the author, "medicine" will soon become a dirty word, but this is not the fault of specific doctors. And as for enzymes, they are still necessary in some clinical cases. And about combined analgesics, there are diseases that, in principle, are not treated, but only the manifestation is removed (in particular, migraine), which significantly improves the quality of life, and this, you see, is important.

Svetlana

Hello! Where can I get a complete list of useless drugs? Your article is not a complete list.

Svetlana

Hello! Are all dietary supplements recommended as hepatoprotectors, chondroprotectors, immunomodulators, drugs for the treatment of dysbacteriosis, antiviral, also useless? Where can I get a list of medicines that really help with various diseases?

Yuri

Vitaly, I do not agree with you.
And I disagree with this article.
All opinions in it are mostly subjective and do not reflect the real picture.
They have been drinking piracetam for over 40 years and so far it has helped 99% of patients, including me.
Yes, and your colleague Dmitry speaks very positively about him.
Arbidol also personally treated me many times for the flu and my relatives too. I clearly state this from my own experience.
Absolutely the same as about arbidol I declare about teraflex in relation to the joints. The same applies to Oscillococcinnum.
Petlagin has been banned for two years and is absent everywhere in relation to the form that you describe.
It seems to me that the article is outdated and reflects very subjective and frivolous views, which might be harmful.

Yuri

Vitaly, sorry for the criticism.
BUT in your photo you should lose a couple of kilos. This is my subjective opinion.

Yuri

Of course, there are better drugs than those described in this article.
BUT to write that all these drugs are useless or harmful, in my opinion, is wrong.

Yuri

Vitaliy, we communicate without evidence in this article and in correspondence. We operate only with personal opinion. Or the opinion of someone, for example, a joke.
Pimracetam is prescribed in 95% of cases of mild concussion. And he usually helps.
Pentalgin, has long been different, and there is not what you write about.
Arbidol, according to my observations, helps very effectively.
I repeat that these drugs are certainly not the most effective. BUT to talk about their complete inefficiency is very incorrect.

Yuri

Vitaly, you have a very useful blog.
But there are some articles, like this one, which, in my opinion, are somewhat incorrect. And tendentious.

Yuri

Vitaliy, in this article I did not find any reference to the ineffectiveness of arbtdol.
And I did not find them because they cannot be.
Because this is all at the level of a joke, and not at the level of a serious conversation.

admin Post Author
RESOLUTION
Meetings of the Presidium of the Formulary Committee of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences
March 16, 2007, RAMS
The meeting of the Presidium of the Formulary Committee was attended by 23 people, including the Chairman (Vorobiev A.I.), Deputy Chairman (Vorobiev P.A.), members of the Formulary Committee (15 people), invited persons, including representatives of the press and pharmaceutical companies (6 people) .
The agenda of the meeting included the following issues: lessons learned from the supplementary drug program; consideration of the List of Essential Medicines of the Formulary Committee used in Pediatrics (Pediatric Formulary of the Formulary Committee); consideration of the List of medicines used in outpatient settings (Outpatient formulary of the Formulary Committee); information on the progress of work on the preparation of the 3rd edition of the Medicines Handbook of the Formulary Committee; consideration of proposals for the inclusion / exclusion of medicines in the List of Essential and Essential Medicines and the List of Essential Medicines of the Formulary Committee; consideration of proposals for the inclusion of medicines in the List of Rarely Used Medical Technologies of the Formulary Committee.
It is necessary to recognize the critical situation that has developed in the sphere of providing preferential categories of citizens with medicines. There is a significant deficit of budgetary funds allocated for the program in 2006-2007, the refusal of beneficiaries to receive medicines and their preference for monetary compensation, the presence of a large number of ineffective drugs in the list, and the clinical and economic inconsistency of the list.
The Formulary Committee of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, supporting the need for urgent measures taken by the Government of the Russian Federation to normalize the situation with the drug supply of the country's population and, realizing its involvement in the problem of drug supply, proposes:
1. Immediately withdraw from the list of drugs, according to which drug provision is carried out in the DLO program, obsolete drugs with unproven efficacy - cerebrolysin, trimetazidine, chondroetin sulfate, vinpocetine, piracetam, phenotropil, arbidol, rimantadine, validol, inosine, valocardine, etc., in including those sold without a prescription;
2. Increase funding for the State Drug Provision Program to 75 billion rubles;
3. Extend the system of drug supply, worked out on the logistic model of additional drug provision, to the entire population of the country, regardless of the disabled and benefits, bearing in mind the observance of the legal rights of citizens, in accordance with Article 41 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, and the implementation of the principle of justice;
4. Introduce a system of reference prices for drugs subsidized by the state: establishing a single price for all generics of a drug, for which compensation is made by the state;
5. Pay suppliers of medicines and pharmacies only for transportation, storage and dispensing of medicines to patients, in return for their profit from the trade margin;
6. Introduce a system of co-financing of medicines by the population in case of receiving medicines at prices higher than the reference ones;
7. Develop a state program of drug provision for patients with rare and especially expensive diseases (chronic myeloid leukemia, lymphomas and lymphosarcomas, multiple myeloma and other paraproteinemic hemoblastoses, acute leukemias, deficiency of factors VII, VIII, IX, von Willebrand, cystic fibrosis, pituitary dwarfism, organ transplantation, insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, porphyria, Gaucher's disease, etc.), bearing in mind the vital need for continuous drug supply at the inpatient and outpatient stages of treatment;
8. To exercise control everywhere over the issuance of prescriptions and the prescription of prescription, state-subsidized medicines strictly in accordance with the standards of medical care;
9. Make decisions on the drug supply program openly, publicly, using recognized international principles and rules - medicine evidence, economic indicators, quarterly publish statistical data and analysis of the state of the drug supply system in the country in the open press.
The formulary committee still sees as its main goal the formation of a scientific attitude to the rational choice and use of medical technologies, to ensuring the quality of medical care.
The formulary committee recognizes the satisfactory work of the experts on the formation of the Pediatric and Outpatient formularies of the Formulary Committee of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences. After some refinement, the above formularies should be published in the 2007 Formulary Committee Medicines Handbook, indicating the methodology for their compilation.
The Formulary Committee, together with the International Public Organization "Society for Pharmacoeconomic Research", in July 2007 will publish the 3rd edition of the Formulary Committee Medicines Handbook. Compared to previous editions, the Handbook will include newly developed formulary entries, updated, in terms of positions on efficacy and pharmacoeconomics, previously developed formulary entries. In addition, the Directory will publish lists developed in 2007 - Pediatric and Outpatient Formularies, adjusted based on the proposals received, the List of Essential Medicines and the List of Rarely Used Medical Technologies of the Formulary Committee.
Regarding the inclusion / exclusion of medicines in the List of Essential and Essential Medicines, the List of Essential Medicines of the Formulary Committee and the List of Rarely Used Medical Technologies, the Presidium of the Formulary Committee generally supports the position of the relevant commissions and considers it appropriate:
include coagulation factor VIII + von Willebrand factor (Vilate) in all of the above lists;
exclude Titanium aquacomplex glycerosolvate (Tizol) from the List of Essential Medicines of the Formulary Committee;
include Desmopressin (Minirin, Emosint), Rituximab (Mabthera), Bortezomib (Velcade), Infliximab (Remicade), as well as drugs used in intensive care units - propranolol (solution in ampoules of 1 mg), breviblok (solution in ampoules ), molsidamine (solution in ampoules), diltiazem (solution in ampoules of 25 mg), actilyse (vials of 10 mg), enalaprilat (solution in ampoules), quinaprilat (solution in ampoules) in the List of rarely used medical technologies;
do not include the drug Acetylsalicylic acid + magnesium hydroxide (Cardiomagnyl) in the Formulary Committee's List of Essential Medicines until reliable evidence of its effectiveness in preventing complications from the gastrointestinal tract is provided.

Yuri

Vitaly, it seems to me that this article is not worth checking something on it. T to half of the medicines from it, although not very effective, are not dummies.

Yuri

Vitaly, in the resolution of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the cell did not find evidence of the ineffectiveness of these drugs.
And the Russian Academy of Sciences is also sometimes mistaken.
Remember the persecution of cybernetics or Michurin.

Yuri

Vitaly, I have already written that it is not an authority and that the Russian Academy of Sciences is often mistaken. But they make mistakes, because scientists cannot but make mistakes. They are in constant search.
Why are we repeating ourselves?
Do you rely on authorities?
I do NOT recommend.
RAS did not cite any studies.
Voiceless thoughts.

Yuri

And then, Vitaly, why are you twisting the opinion of the RAS resolution?

They write that drugs are "...obsolete drugs with unproven effectiveness"

But this does not mean that these drugs are empty!
No need to change concepts!
They are not useless! Why did you decide this?
Since the RAS has no evidence of their effectiveness? Or from the fact that they are ugly?
So iodine and greenery are also outdated, but everyone uses them.
Your conclusions are fundamentally erroneous, just like the sources on the basis of which you draw these conclusions.

Yuri

Vitlay, if in your article you replace the words ineffective with - LOW-EFFICIENT, then I will agree. Better yet, give examples of more effective drugs. This will be just wonderful 🙂

Yuri

Ah, now I understand. Sorry, if anything. And sorry for being harsh.

Yuri

Vitaly, in general, I like your site. Especially the psychological section.
I just don't agree with some of the articles.
Therefore, I criticize to improve the site 🙂

It would seem that everyone has heard about drugs, the effectiveness of which, for one reason or another, has not been proven. They are not dangerous to health, just supposedly useless, so taking them is pointless. It is especially offensive that they are sometimes very expensive. It turns out that by buying them, we fill someone's pockets, but we do not receive healing. In this material you will find a detailed list of such drugs. To drink or not to drink? Decide for yourself!

1. ACTOVEGIN

The drug, which is on the list of top sellers, has no evidence base. Since March 2011, Actovegin has been banned in Canada, since July 2011 it has been banned for sale, import and use in the United States. In Western Europe, Australia, Japan and most other countries of the world, this substance is not approved for use as a drug. Source The manufacturer tried to prove the effectiveness of Actovegin, but to no avail and was forced to refer to the "experience of doctors." Recently, a clinical trial of Actovegin was completed in Russia by order of the manufacturer. No one has seen the results of these clinical trials and most likely never will. The manufacturer of Actovegin has the right not to publish them.

2. CEREBROLISIN

A drug for the treatment of patients with impaired functions of the central nervous system, developmental delays, impaired attention, dementia (for example, Alzheimer's syndrome), but in Russia (as well as in China) it is most widely used to treat ischemic stroke. In 2010, Cochrane Collaboration, the most authoritative international organization specializing in summarizing information about evidence-based studies, published a review of the results of randomized clinical trials of cerebrolysin conducted by physicians L. Ziganshina, T. Abakumova, A. Kucheva: “According to our results, none of the 146 examined showed no improvement in the condition when taking the drug ... There is no evidence to confirm the effectiveness of the use of cerebrolysin in the treatment of patients with ischemic stroke. In percentage terms, there was no difference between the number of deaths - 6 out of 78 people in the cerebrolysin group versus 6 out of 68 in the placebo group. The condition of the members of the first group did not improve in comparison with the members of the second.

3. ARBIDOL

The long-term leader of the Russian pharmaceutical market, Arbidol was developed in the 1960s by the joint efforts of scientists from the All-Union Scientific Research Chemical-Pharmaceutical Institute named after V.I. Ordzhonikidze, Research Institute of Medical Radiology of the USSR Academy of Medical Sciences and the Leningrad Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology. Pasteur. In the 1970-80s, the drug received official recognition of its therapeutic effect against acute respiratory diseases of the influenza virus types A and B, however, the results of full-scale clinical trials of arbidol conducted in the USSR (thousands of people, comparative double-blind placebo-controlled studies) did not have been published.
The conducted studies of Arbidol do not give grounds to consider it as a drug with proven activity for the treatment of influenza. Researchers from abroad were not really interested in this drug. The American Food and Drug Administration refused to register Arbidol as a drug. Arbidol is well advertised and actively lobbied at the highest level.

4. INGAVIRIN

Used to prevent and treat colds and flu. Ingaverin entered the market in 2008 without full-fledged placebo-controlled studies, and a few months later the so-called swine flu epidemic began, which greatly contributed to its sales. Despite the fact that there is no evidence-based evidence of the effectiveness of ingaverin against influenza, the drug was recommended for use by the Ministry of Health and Social Development.

5. KAGOCEL

The effectiveness of the drug has not been proven by randomized clinical trials (RCTs). Without such results, the drug is usually not approved for use in cultured countries. This can be checked against the MEDLINE database, which is freely available to everyone around the world through the US National Library of Medicine. In total, there are 12 articles in MEDLINE that mention Kagocel. Not a single RCT is among them. The list of studies available on the Rusnano website contains more studies that look like RCTs by title. Unfortunately, they have not been published. This list does not include studies of the so-called third phase, i.e. studies needed to establish the efficacy and safety of the drug in adults. Research on children predominates, which looks immoral. Only those interventions that have already been tested in adults and need to be tested in children should be tested in children. This is particularly surprising since, as we shall see, some of the potentially harmful effects of Kagocel are long-term and even irreversible. We don't know why Nearmedic doesn't publish studies that, by the name, look like RCTs. But we know why RCT results are usually not published by pharmaceutical companies: because these studies did not give the attractive results the company needed.
Thus, there are no reliable grounds to consider Kagocel as an effective means of preventing or treating colds. Accordingly, a sane person should not use it.

6. Ocillococcinum

A preparation made using an extract of the liver and heart of a non-existent bird to combat a non-existent microorganism and at the same time does not contain an active substance. During the Spanish flu epidemic in 1919, the French epidemiologist Joseph Roy, using a microscope, discovered some mysterious bacteria in the blood of flu patients, which he called Oscillococci and declared the causative agents of the disease (along with herpes, cancer, tuberculosis, and even rheumatism). Subsequently, it turned out that the causative agents of influenza are viruses that cannot be seen with an optical microscope, and no one except Rua could see Oscillococci bacteria. When the vaccine made by Rua on the basis of Oscillococcus from the blood of sick people did not work, he, guided by the main principle of homeopathy - to treat like with like, but at much lower dosages, decided to use an extract from the liver of birds - the main hosts of influenza viruses in nature. The same principle is followed by modern manufacturers of oscillococcinum, who indicate Anas Barbariae Hepatis et Cordis Extractum, an extract of the liver and heart of the Barbary duck, as the active ingredient of the drug.
At the same time, firstly, the species Anas Barbariae does not exist in nature, and the ducks used by Rua are called musky and are known in biological nomenclature as Cairina moschata. Secondly, in accordance with Korsakov's homeopathic principle, the extract, according to the manufacturers, is diluted 10 to 400 times, which implies the absence of even one molecule of the active substance oscillococcinum in any package of the drug (for comparison, the number of atoms in the Universe is 1 * 10 to the 80th degree). Theoretically, all Oscillococcinum sold until the end of time could be made from a single duck liver. “From the point of view of modern science, homeopathic remedies, which include the drug oscillococcinum, do not have proven efficacy, and the lack of evidence of efficacy and safety is a reason for a drug not to be approved for use, not to mention that the manufacturer cannot prove the presence of the claimed components in the preparation,” says Professor Vasily Vlasov, Vice President of the Society for Evidence-Based Medicine Specialists. In Pharmexpert's 2009 ranking, Oscillococcinum ranks second among the most popular over-the-counter drugs in Russia. According to experts involved in monitoring the Russian market, the main reason for its popularity lies in the active advertising policy of manufacturers and the love of Russian residents for self-treatment. In the homeland of the drug, in France, since 1992, the sale for medical purposes of any products prepared in accordance with Korsakov's homeopathic principle has been prohibited - with the exception of oscillococcinum.

7. TAMIFLU and RELENZA

It won't be long before another hysteria begins to extort money from the population under the guise of fighting the flu. And today we want to tell you about a story that happened quite recently, which was reported by the English newspaper Guardian.

In 2014, the UK stockpiled £600 million worth of flu drugs (more than $1 billion). However, it soon became clear that the purchased drugs do not relieve the symptoms of the disease well and cannot prevent the spread of the epidemic. Independent experts conducted research and found that the companies that make the two main flu drugs, Tamiflu and Relenza, withheld important information. In particular, it turned out that during clinical trials, these drugs were completely ineffective. The researchers concluded that due to lack of information, the government stockpiled these drugs, consisting of 40 million doses. Medicines officials have also been criticized for failing to collect all information about medicines before approving their use.
The results of clinical trials of drugs Tamiflu and Relenza occupy 175,000 pages. In this array of information, data was easily hidden that the only advantage of these drugs is the removal of the symptoms of the disease for about half a day. At the same time, there is no justification for creating such a significant reserve with taxpayer money, since medicines cannot prevent the occurrence of serious complications, including pneumonia, and also reduce the rate of spread of the virus among the population.
Scientists have been alerted by the fact that the drug Tamiflu, which makes up about 85% of the stocks made, if used as a preventive measure, can cause serious side effects, such as kidney problems, high blood sugar, as well as mental disorders, including development depression and delirium. As a result, £600 million from the pocket of taxpayers was "thrown to the wind," concluded Professor of Medicine Carl Heneghan from the University of Oxford, one of the authors of the study.

8. AMIKSIN, THYMALIN, THYMOGEN, VIFERON, ANAFERON, ALFARON, INGARON (BIOPAROX, POLYOXIDONIUM, CYKLOFERON, ERSEFURIL, IMUNOMAX, LYCOPID, ISOPRINOSINE, PRIMADOFILYUS, ENGYSTOL, IMUDON, etc.)

"Immunomodulators" are sold only in Russia - more than 400 items are registered here.

Timalin and Timogen
The active substance of these drugs is a complex of polypeptides obtained by extraction from the thymus gland (thymus) of cattle. Initially, raw materials for the manufacture of preparations came from the Leningrad Meat Processing Plant. Doctors widely prescribed thymalin (injections) and thymogen (nasal drops) for adults and children as an immunomodulator and biostimulant for conditions and diseases that are accompanied by a decrease in immunity, including burns and frostbite, acute and chronic purulent-inflammatory diseases of bones, soft tissues and skin, acute and chronic viral and bacterial infections, various ulcers, as well as in therapy for pulmonary tuberculosis, multiple sclerosis, atherosclerosis obliterans, rheumatoid arthritis and to eliminate the negative effects of radiation and chemotherapy. The database of medical publications Medline lists 268 articles mentioning thymalin and thymogen (253 in Russian), but none of them contains information about a full (double, blind, randomized) study of the safety and efficacy of these drugs. In 2010, at the congress “Man and Medicine”, a report was heard by a postgraduate student of the Department of Clinical Pharmacology of the Moscow Medical Academy. Sechenov, Candidate of Medical Sciences Irina Andreeva, who argued that "the effectiveness and necessity of using drugs such as thymogen, thymalin and other immunomodulators, which are widely used in Russian medical practice, have not been proven in clinical studies." According to the specialists of the Institute of Hematology of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, "there is no evidence of the effectiveness of the use of thymalin and thymogen in complex radiation therapy." “The very concept of “lowering immunity” and the possibility of “increasing” it is an ugly simplification of knowledge about the complex system of immunity,” says Professor Vasily Vlasov. - None of the "immunity stimulants", like levamisole, thymalin, amixin - there are many of them on the Russian market - has convincing evidence of usefulness, unless, of course, the manufacturer's profit is considered a benefit.

Viferon

The scale of "interferon therapy" in Russia is simply amazing. Doctors of almost all specialties include interferons in their treatment regimens - rectally, orally, intranasally ... They are prescribed to infants, pregnant women, the elderly ... Nobody is embarrassed by the fact that throughout the civilized world recombinant interferons are prescribed exclusively parenterally for certain serious diseases - viral hepatitis, malignant neoplasms ... No one is embarrassed by the lack of an evidence base for the use of interferons locally (with the exception of ophthalmic practice). Not embarrassed by the fact that interferon is a large molecular structure that cannot penetrate into the systemic circulation through the mucous membranes of the nose and gastrointestinal tract, and even more so have a systemic effect. In favor of their inefficiency is indirectly evidenced by the fact that they are always prescribed in combination with other drugs, i.e. everyone understands that they do not work as a single drug. As a practicing pediatrician, I have never prescribed this group of drugs in 15 years of practice and, believe me, all patients recover without them. I consider the abuse of immunomodulators, immunostimulants, immunosimulators .... When using suppositories with interferon in pregnant women, the frequency of blood cancers in their children increased.
Alfaron, Ingaron
In the desire to snatch a profit at the time of the worldwide panic of 2005, our domestic manufacturers pulled out old developments and offered ingaron. And now they are trying to sell preparations of alpha and gamma interferon in pairs - “the industrial production of the “Kit for the Prevention and Treatment of Influenza” has been launched ... A combination of interferon preparations of types I and II (gamma interferon - INGARON and alpha interferon - ALFARON) when administered intranasally or nasopharyngeally, it provides high protection against influenza infection, including H1N1 season 2009 (porcine origin) ”(official press release of the Influenza Institute).
Indeed, on September 10, in Copenhagen, Director of the EuroWHO M. Danzon welcomed Academician O. Kiselev, Director of the Institute of Influenza, and VZ experts emphasized that Russia should ensure the quality of the products offered and conduct appropriate clinical trials. That's when it will be possible to discuss whether they are of interest to medical practice. Naturally, it is impossible to organize and conduct additional benign studies in two months. Why did the WHO change its mind? The Influenza Institute kindly provided a translation of the letter from the WHO. It states: “We have carefully reviewed the submitted reports. The results are very interesting and encouraging, however, given the limited clinical data on interferon preparations ..., we recommend that further international studies are necessary to finally determine and formulate WHO recommendations for the use of these drugs on an international scale. … Given the fact that … interferon preparations, based on their quality compliance with the standards adopted in the Russian Federation, are already approved for use … for the prevention and treatment of pandemic influenza A(H1N1), we believe that these preparations are already widely available and are used in priority for the prevention and treatment of pandemic influenza in your country… We would be grateful for any post-marketing surveillance data on their use.” Translated from international into Russian, this means: for the international community, data must be obtained in good studies, but if the laws of your country allow treatment with these drugs, then treat, and let us know about the complications. If China had insisted on acupuncture for swine flu, or Botswana on voodoo treatments, they would probably have received similar responses.

9. ESSENTIALE, CARSIL…

None of the so-called "hepatoprotectors" is presented in the pharmacopoeias of North America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand and is not included in the Clinical Recommendations - practical guidelines for doctors and surgeons, which they use to make decisions on the diagnosis and treatment of diseases, as well as confirmed their practical importance. Since 1989, 5 clinical studies have been conducted. Initially, it was thought that phospholipids might be effective in alcoholic liver disease and other liver steatosis, as well as when taking so-called hepatotoxic drugs as a "drug cover". However, in a 2003 study at US Veterans Medical Centers, no positive effects of these drugs on liver function were found. Moreover, it was found that in acute and chronic viral hepatitis it is contraindicated, as it can increase bile stasis and inflammation activity.

10. BIFIDOBACTERIN, BIFIDUMBACTERIN, BIFIFORM, LINEX, HILAK FORTE, PRIMADOPHILUS and other probiotics

The diagnosis of "dysbacteriosis", which is universally put forward by our pediatricians, does not exist anywhere else in the world. Prescribing probiotics in developed countries is treated with caution.
The drug Linex was created on the basis of bifidobacteria, lactobacilli and enterococci and is intended to improve the intestinal flora affected by the use of antihistamines and antibiotics. However, due to manufacturing characteristics, the effectiveness of the drug tends to zero. According to the manufacturers, one Linex capsule contains 1.2 * 10 "live, but lyophilized (that is, vacuum-dried) lactic acid bacteria. Firstly, this number itself is not so large - a comparable amount of bacteria can be obtained by consuming a daily norm of ordinary fermented milk products. Secondly, when blisting, that is, when the drug is vacuum packed into capsules in which it goes on sale, about 99% of the bacteria are likely to die. Finally, a comparative analysis of dry and liquid probiotics shows that in the first, bacteria are extremely passive, so even those that managed to survive blistering almost never have time to have a positive effect on the human immune system.
Preparations of harmless bacteria (probiotics) for colonization of the intestines have been used in European medicine for about a hundred years, thanks to the research of Ilya Mechnikov. “But it's only recently that certain drugs in good studies have been found to be beneficial in preventing infections in children,” says Prof. Vlasov. - It was the insignificance of the size of the effect that did not allow it to be convincingly detected earlier. In Russia, the popularity of probiotics is unprecedented, as manufacturers skillfully support the bizarre idea of "dysbacteriosis" - a condition of allegedly disturbed intestinal microflora, which is supposedly treated with probiotics.
Probiotic products contain different strains of bacteria and their doses are different. It is not clear which bacteria are actually beneficial or what dosages are required for their action.
11. MEZIM FORTE

Mezim Forte was created on the basis of pancreatin from the pancreas of pigs, which should compensate for the insufficiency of the exocrine function of the pancreas and improve the digestion of food in the intestines. According to the manufacturers, mezim-forte is produced in blisters, the shell of which protects enzymes sensitive to gastric juice and dissolves only in the alkaline environment of the small intestine, where it releases the pancreatic enzymes that are part of the drug - amylase, lipase and protease, which facilitate the digestion of carbohydrates, fats and proteins. However, in 2009, the President of the Association of Employers' Organizations of the Medical and Microbiological Industry of Ukraine, Valeriy Pechaev, stated that the study of the drug, conducted by the laboratory of pharmacological analysis of the SE "State Pharmacological Center" of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine and the State Inspectorate for Quality Control of Medicines, showed its complete inefficiency. According to Pachaev, there is no enteric-soluble shell in mezim-fort, which is why the enzymes are dissolved by acid in the stomach and do not give any effect. Representatives of the Berlin-Chemie company did not deny or confirm this fact, but issued a response statement that said: “There are questions for Valery Pechaev himself. The fact is that Pechaev is, among other things, the general director of the pharmaceutical company Lekhim, which, by the way, produces a competitive drug - pancreatin. “The effect of enzymes on the body has not yet been fully studied,” says Professor Vasily Vlasov. - Mezim-forte, as well as pancreatin, is a drug of mass demand, respectively, suitable for everyone, and therefore not suitable for anyone.

12. CORVALOL, VALOCORDIN (VALOSERDIN)

These medicines contain Phenobarbital (Luminal). The circulation of this substance due to its high toxicity to the human body, as well as its pronounced narcogenicity (the ability to cause pathological dependence, i.e. drug addiction) in all countries is subject to control by special competent authorities. In most European countries, phenobarbital is either used extremely rarely, or its use is generally prohibited. The consequences of the abuse of barbiturates (namely, phenobarbital belongs to this group) include damage to the liver, heart, and of course the brain.

13. PIRACETAM (NOOTROPIL) and other nootropics (Phenibut, Aminalon, Pantogam, Picamilon, Cinnarizine)

A nootropic drug used to improve metabolic processes occurring in the cerebral cortex. The active substance of nootropil - piracetam - is the basis of about 20 similar drugs on the Russian market, for example, pyratropil, lucetam and a number of drugs, the name of which contains the word "piracetam" itself. This substance is widely used in neurological, psychiatric and narcological practice.
The Medline database lists publications from the 1990s on clinical studies, according to which piracetam is moderately effective in the recovery of the patient after a stroke, as well as in the treatment of dementia and dyslexia. However, the results of the randomized multicenter study PASS (Piracetam in Acute Stroke Study) in 2001 showed the lack of efficacy of piracetam in the treatment of acute ischemic stroke. There is also no information on the improvement of the functioning of the cerebral cortex in healthy people after taking piracetam.
Currently, it is excluded by the US FDA from the list of medicines and is classified as a dietary supplement (BAA). It is not approved for sale in US pharmacies, but it can be ordered online or imported from neighboring Mexico. In 2008, the Formulary Committee of the British Academy of Medical Sciences made a statement that "the results of randomized clinical trials (1990s. - Esquire) on the use of the nootropic drug piracetam were methodologically flawed." However, in some cases, it can help older people with cognitive impairment. People who have used piracetam in combination with LSD and MDMA have claimed that it helps control a strong drug effect.
In Russia, piracetam is actively used in the therapy of mental functions in children with Down syndrome. However, according to a study conducted in 2006 by a group of scientists led by Nancy Lobeau, piracetam did not confirm its effectiveness in this area: in 18 children with Down syndrome, after a four-month course, cognitive functions remained at the same level, aggression was observed in four cases, excitability in two , in one - an increased interest in sex, in one - insomnia, in one - lack of appetite. The scientists concluded: "Piracetam has no proven therapeutic effect in improving cognitive function, but has undesirable side effects."

14. COCARBOXYLASE, RIBOXIN (INOSIN)

These drugs are used in cardiology, obstetrics, neurology and intensive care. Actively used in Russia, but not used in developed countries. They have never been seriously studied. It is argued that these drugs should somehow miraculously improve metabolism, help with many diseases, enhance the effect of other drugs. If a medicine cures everything, it doesn't really cure anything.
At a certain stage in the development of medical science, these drugs were quite popular, but the experience of their clinical use has shown the low effectiveness of such therapy. First of all, the failure was associated with the pharmacological groundlessness of the use of this class of drugs. Obviously, the introduction of ATP from the outside does not matter from a pharmacological point of view, since this macroerg is formed in the body in incomparably large quantities. The use of its precursor inosine (riboxin) also cannot guarantee an increase in the pool of "ready" ATP in myocardial cells, since both the delivery of the purine derivative and its penetration into the cell under ischemia conditions are rather difficult.

15. CHONDROPROTECTORS

16. Vinpocetine and Cavinton

Today, it is not recommended for use: not a single benign study has revealed clinically significant effects in it. It is a substance obtained from the leaves of the Vinca minor plant. The drug has been little studied. Therefore, in the United States and many other countries, it refers to dietary supplements, and not to drugs. In Japan, withdrawn from sale due to apparent inefficiency.

A drug that has not proven its effectiveness in ARVI. Erespal in syrup is contraindicated in patients with bronchial asthma and allergies. Due to the dyes and honey flavor it contains, it can in itself provoke bronchospasm.

25. GEDELIX

Efficacy in ARVI in children and adults has not been proven.

26. DIOCIDIN

Contraindicated in children due to high toxicity. It is extremely cautious to appoint adults with a disease of the nose and paranasal sinuses. In case of ear disease - with caution in case of damage to the eardrum.

27. BIOPAROX, KUDESAN

No major research has been done, all articles on Pubmed are mostly of Russian origin. The "studies" were conducted mainly on mice.

The situation is further aggravated by the fact that conceived migrants, immigrants from the countries of the former USSR do not have normal (or even no) medical insurance and, in case of illness, they self-medicate without exception.

And here in the first informant to become ... TV.

So we offer you TOP 15 most useless, but at the same time the most popular drugs that are usually bought without prescriptions:

1. ARBIDOL

Active ingredient: umifenovir.

Other names: "Arpetolid", "Arpeflu", "ORVItol NP", "Arpetol", "Immust".

Soviet invention of 1974, not recognized by the World Health Organization. Clinical trials of the drug in human diseases were carried out only in the CIS and China.

This is supposedly an antiviral drug with an immunomodulatory effect for the treatment of many different diseases, including influenza, but its effectiveness has not yet been proven.

2. ESSENTIAL

Active ingredient: polyenylphosphatidylcholine.

Other names: "Essentiale forte", "Essentiale N", "Essentiale forte N".

This popular liver protection drug, like all other so-called "hepatoprotectors", does not protect the liver in any way. Scientific studies have not found a positive effect when taking Essentiale, but they have found something else: in acute and chronic viral hepatitis, it can increase bile stasis and inflammation activity.

Basically, it's a food supplement.

3. PROBIOTICS

Active ingredient: live microorganisms.

Popular drugs: "Hilak forte", "Acilact", "Bifiliz", "Lactobacterin", "Bifiform", "Sporobacterin", "Enterol".

Not only is the effectiveness of probiotics unproven; Apparently, most of the microorganisms contained in these preparations are not yet alive. The fact is that the packaging process destroys 99% of all potentially beneficial bacteria and spores. With the same success, you can drink a glass of kefir. In Europe and the USA, probiotics are not prescribed.

4. MEZIM FORTE

Active ingredient: pancreatin.

Other names: Biofestal, Normoenzym, Festal, Enzistal, Biozym, Vestal, Gastenorm, Creon, Mikrazim, Panzim, Panzinorm, Pankreazim , "Pantsitrat", "Penzital", "Uni-Festal", "Enzibene", "Ermital".

According to studies, pancreatin may be effective only for indigestion. It does not cure diabetes, pancreatitis, hernia and real disorders of the digestive tract.

5. Corvalol

Active ingredient: phenobarbital.

Other names: "Valocordin", "Valoserdin".

Phenobarbital is a dangerous barbiturate with a pronounced narcotic effect.

With regular use in large doses, it causes serious neurological and cognitive impairment (short-term memory disorders, speech disorders, unsteady gait), suppresses sexual function, which is why it is banned from import into the USA, the UAE and many European countries.

6. PIRACETAM

Other names: "Lucetam", "Memotropil", "Nootropil", "Piratropil", "Cerebril".

Like all other nootropic drugs, it is known mainly in the CIS. The effectiveness of piracetam has not been proven, but there is evidence of unwanted side effects. Not registered in most developed countries.

7. CINNARIZINE

Active ingredient: diphenylpiperazine.

Other names: Stugezin, Stugeron, Stunaron.

Cinnarizine is currently produced mainly in Bangladesh, while it was banned in the West 30 years ago. Why? The list of side effects would take up too much space, so we will only mention that the use of cinnarizine can lead to an acute form of parkinsonism.

8. VALIDOL

Active ingredient: isovaleric acid menthyl ester.

Other names: "Valofin", "Mentoval".

An outdated drug with unproven efficacy. In no case do not rely on it for heart problems! It does not give anything, and with a heart attack, every minute counts!

9. NOVO-PASSIT

Active ingredient: haifenesin.

This allegedly antixiolytic drug contains many different herbal extracts, but its only active ingredient is an expectorant.

It is often included in cough preparations, but cannot in any way provide the sedative effect attributed to Novo Passit.

10. GEDELIX

Other names: "Gederin", "Gelisal", "Prospan".

The US National Institutes of Health conducted a large-scale study and came to the following conclusion: despite its popularity, ivy leaf extract is not effective in treating cough. Have some tea with lemon.

11. Glycine

Glycine is not a drug at all, but a simple amino acid. In fact, this is another bioactive supplement that does not bring any harm or benefit to the body. The clinical efficacy of glycine is not only unproven, but not even investigated.

12. SINUPRETE

Active ingredient: extract of medicinal plants.

Other names: Tonzipret, Bronchipret.

A popular phytopreparation in Germany, the effectiveness of which is confirmed only by studies conducted by the manufacturer. You can make it at home by brewing gentian root, primrose flowers, sorrel, elder flowers and verbena. See what a savings!

13. TROXEVASIN

Active ingredient: flavonoid rutin.

Other names: "Troxerutin".

The effectiveness is confirmed only by two Russian studies, which were severely criticized by Western scientists. According to the latter, "Troxevasin" has only a barely noticeable effect on the body.

14. ANY HOMEOPATHY

Active ingredient: absent.

Popular drugs: Anaferon, Antigrippin, Aflubin, Viburkol, Galstena, Gingko Biloba, Memoria, Okuloheel, Palladium, Pumpan, Remens, Renital ”, “Salvia”, “Tonzipret”, “Traumel”, “Calm down”, “Engistol” ... thousands of them!

When listing pseudo-drugs, it would be dishonest not to mention homeopathic remedies.

Please remember once and for all: homeopathic remedies basically DO NOT CONTAIN any active ingredients. They do not have the slightest effect either on the human body or on bacteria, viruses and diseases that are designed to treat.

The effectiveness of homeopathy does not differ from the effectiveness of placebo, which is what it is.

15. Zelenka

It should not be surprising that brilliant green (1% alcohol solution of brilliant green) familiar to everyone since childhood is very weak as an antiseptic. Since it contains an alcohol solution, it still has disinfecting properties, but no more than ordinary alcohol. With deep wounds, brilliant green cannot be used, in this case, softer antiseptics are needed - for example, Betadine

Medicines that are prescribed by doctors, but do not cure ... A list of ineffective and useless medicines.

Chairman of the Formulary Committee of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, Doctor of Medical Sciences, Professor Pavel Vorobyov: “The percentage of empty unnecessary medicines on the Russian market is at least 30%”
Currently, a large number of drugs are circulating on the pharmaceutical market, whose therapeutic efficacy has not been adequately proven by clinical trials. Major drug manufacturers have long understood that in order to successfully sell a particular drug, it is not at all necessary that it has healing properties. It is much more profitable for them to invest in advertising and in bribing officials than in their clinical trials.

List of drugs with unproven therapeutic efficacy

1. Actovegin, Cerebrolysin, Solcoseryl - drugs with unproven efficacy.

Cerebrolysin is a nootropic agent that improves metabolism in the brain tissue. A drug for the treatment of patients with impaired functions of the central nervous system, developmental delays, impaired attention, dementia (for example, Alzheimer's syndrome), but in Russia (as well as in China) it is most widely used to treat ischemic stroke. In 2010, Cochrane Collaboration, the most authoritative international organization specializing in summarizing information about evidence-based studies, published a review of the results of randomized clinical trials of cerebrolysin conducted by physicians L. Ziganshina, T. Abakumova, A. Kucheva: “According to our results, none of the 146 examined showed no improvement in the condition when taking the drug ... There is no evidence to confirm the effectiveness of the use of cerebrolysin in the treatment of patients with ischemic stroke. In percentage terms, there was no difference between the number of deaths - 6 out of 78 in the cerebrolysin group versus 6 out of 68 in the placebo group. The condition of the members of the first group did not improve in comparison with the members of the second.

Actovegin has not passed full-fledged, independent studies according to the GCP rules. In the countries of Western Europe and the USA, Actovegin is not used. Preparations containing components of animal origin are prohibited in developed countries. There is not a single study of Actovegin in the Cochrane Library. And at the same time, Actovegin is prescribed for almost everyone at any stage of pregnancy, during and after childbirth, for the treatment of burns, rehabilitation of the field of heart attacks and strokes, and for many chronic diseases. On the English-language website of the manufacturer corporation, it is indicated that the extract from the blood of calves is sold only to the CIS countries, China and South Korea.

Fragment of an interview with Nycomed Group President Hokan Bjorklund and Nycomed Russia-CIS President Josten Davidsen to Sekret Firmy. (Source kommersant.ru)

SF: Nycomed blockbuster drug - "Actovegin", which increases the supply of oxygen to the cells of the body. It ranks third in Russia in terms of drug sales, according to Pharmexpert. However, there is no information about him either on the company's international website or in any other Western sources. I was able to find a mention of "Actovegin" only on the Chinese site Nycomed, and on Russian resources. Why is that?

JOSTAIN DAVIDSEN: Really not? I don't know why there is no information. This is strange, since Actovegin is the third largest selling product of the Nycomed Group, one of the key ones.

SF: Maybe because due to mad cow disease in many countries, the sale of drugs containing components of animal origin is prohibited, but Actovegin contains them?

Josten Davidsen
YD: Yes, in a number of European countries such drugs are prohibited, and we do not sell Actovegin there. However, historically, the main market for Aktovegin is Russia and the CIS. Nycomed offered this product back in Soviet times. Today, 70% of the total production of Actovegin is sold here.

SF: There is an opinion that the medical effectiveness of Actovegin has not been proven, since it has not been subjected to clinical research.

JOSTAIN DAVIDSEN: In Russia, a clinical trial of a drug is not legally required, so its absence cannot be a problem for us. Why don't we do it? Because we don't feel the need to do so. We see that the drug is in demand by Russian doctors, they recommend it to patients. This is an important point, since doctors in Russia are quite conservative and adhere to well-known and well-established treatment techniques. In turn, consumers are loyal to Actovegin. In addition, there are not so many alternative drugs today. ”
That's right - if "people hawala" why do research?

The use of Actovegin is associated with a certain risk - since it is obtained from calf blood, the patient runs the risk of catching spongiform encephalitis.

2. Arbidol, Kagocel, Alfaron, Ingaron, Ingavirin, other immunomodulators

The conducted studies of Arbidol do not give grounds to consider it as a drug with proven activity for the treatment of influenza. Researchers from abroad were not really interested in this drug. The American Food and Drug Administration refused to register Arbidol as a drug.

Professor Vasily Vlasov: Arbidol is a little-studied drug

But at the same time, Arbidol is well advertised and actively lobbied at the highest level. By a strange coincidence, the pharmaceutical company Pharmstandard (producing Arbidol) is managed by a longtime friend of the Golikova-Khristenko family, Viktor Kharitonin. Not so long ago, curious materials were published in the press and on television about the cooperation between the Ministry of Health and Social Development and Pharmstandard.

Ingavirin is an immunomodulator used to prevent and treat colds and flu

According to the manufacturers, “the idea of creating a drug known to modern consumers as ingavirin appeared in the early 1980s. After a series of years of efficacy and safety studies, Ingavirin was submitted for registration, which ended in mid-2008.” In fact, according to Professor Vasily Vlasov, the active substance of the drug vitaglutam (dicarbamine) was sold in Russia until 2008 as a hematopoietic stimulant in patients receiving anticancer therapy. In this capacity, the drug has been studied, but convincing evidence of effectiveness has not been obtained. Ingaverin entered the market in 2008 without full-fledged placebo-controlled studies, and a few months later the so-called swine flu epidemic began, which greatly contributed to its sales. Despite the fact that there is no scientifically substantiated evidence of the effectiveness of ingaverin against influenza, the drug was recommended for use by the Ministry of Health and Social Development. And the chief therapist of the Russian Federation, Alexander Chuchalin, said in an interview with Ogonyok magazine in May 2009: “The activity of the antiviral drug ingavirin is much higher than that of the same American Tamiflu. Our drug easily integrates into the genome of the A/H1N1 virus and quickly destroys it. And other dangerous viruses too.” Chuchalin led the development team of Ingaverin

3. Oscillococcinum

A preparation made using an extract of the liver and heart of a non-existent bird to combat a non-existent microorganism and at the same time does not contain an active substance. During the Spanish flu epidemic in 1919, the French epidemiologist Joseph Roy, using a microscope, discovered some mysterious bacteria in the blood of flu patients, which he called Oscillococci and declared the causative agents of the disease (along with herpes, cancer, tuberculosis, and even rheumatism). Subsequently, it turned out that the causative agents of influenza are viruses that cannot be seen with an optical microscope, and no one except Rua could see Oscillococci bacteria. When the vaccine made by Rua on the basis of Oscillococcus from the blood of sick people did not work, he, guided by the main principle of homeopathy - to treat like with like, but at much lower dosages, decided to use an extract from the liver of birds - the main hosts of influenza viruses in nature. The same principle is followed by modern manufacturers of oscillococcinum, who indicate Anas Barbariae Hepatis et Cordis Extractum, an extract of the liver and heart of the Barbary duck, as the active ingredient of the drug. At the same time, firstly, the species Anas Barbariae does not exist in nature, and the ducks used by Rua are called musky and are known in biological nomenclature as Cairina moschata. Secondly, in accordance with Korsakov's homeopathic principle, the extract, according to the manufacturers, is diluted 10 to 400 times, which implies the absence of even one molecule of the active substance oscillococcinum in any package of the drug (for comparison, the number of atoms in the Universe is 1 * 10 to the 80th degree). Theoretically, all Oscillococcinum sold until the end of time could be made from a single duck liver. “From the point of view of modern science, homeopathic remedies, which include the drug oscillococcinum, do not have proven efficacy, and the lack of evidence of efficacy and safety is a reason for a drug not to be approved for use, not to mention that the manufacturer cannot prove the presence of the claimed components in the preparation,” says Professor Vasily Vlasov, Vice President of the Society for Evidence-Based Medicine Specialists. Nevertheless, in Pharmexpert's 2009 ranking, Oscillococcinum ranks second among the most popular non-prescription drugs in Russia. According to experts involved in monitoring the Russian market, the main reason for its popularity lies in the active advertising policy of manufacturers and the love of Russian residents for self-treatment. In the homeland of the drug, in France, since 1992, the sale for medical purposes of any products prepared in accordance with Korsakov's homeopathic principle has been prohibited - with the exception of oscillococcinum.

4. Cocarboxylase, ATP (adenotriphosphoric acid), Riboxin (Inosine)

In cardiology, ATP is used only to relieve certain arrhythmias, which is associated with its ability to block the conduction of the AV node for a short time. In this case, ATP is administered intravenously, and the effect is limited to a few minutes. In all other cases (including the previously widespread use of intramuscular courses) ATP is useless, because this ATP “lives”, when introduced into the body, for a very short time, and then breaks down into its constituent parts, therefore the only possible result of the introduction of ATP is an abscess at the injection site.

At a certain stage in the development of medical science, these drugs were quite popular, but the experience of their clinical use has shown the low effectiveness of such therapy. First of all, the failure was associated with the pharmacological groundlessness of the use of this class of drugs. Obviously, the introduction of ATP from the outside does not matter from a pharmacological point of view, since this macroerg is formed in the body in incomparably large quantities. The use of its precursor inosine (riboxin) also cannot guarantee an increase in the pool of "ready" ATP in myocardial cells, since both the delivery of the purine derivative and its penetration into the cell under ischemia conditions are rather difficult.

5. Linex, Bifidumbacterin, Bifiform, Hilak Forte, Primadophilus and other probiotics.

Prescribing probiotics in developed countries is treated with great caution.

The drug Linex was created on the basis of bifidobacteria, lactobacilli and enterococci and is intended to improve the intestinal flora affected by the use of antihistamines and antibiotics. However, due to manufacturing characteristics, the effectiveness of the drug tends to zero. According to the manufacturers, one linex capsule contains 1.2 * 10 "live, but lyophilized (that is, vacuum-dried) lactic acid bacteria. Firstly, this number itself is not so large - a comparable amount of bacteria can be obtained by consuming a daily norm of ordinary fermented milk products. Secondly, when blisting, that is, vacuum packaging of the drug into capsules in which it goes on sale, about gg% of bacteria are likely to die. Finally, a comparative analysis of dry and liquid probiotics shows that in the first, bacteria are extremely passive, so even those that managed to survive blistering almost never have time to have a positive effect on the human immune system. Preparations of harmless bacteria (probiotics) for colonization of the intestines have been used in European medicine for about a hundred years, thanks to the research of Ilya Mechnikov. “But it's only recently that certain drugs in good studies have been found to be beneficial in preventing infections in children,” says Prof. Vlasov. - It was the insignificance of the size of the effect that did not allow it to be convincingly detected earlier. In Russia, the popularity of probiotics is unprecedented, as manufacturers skillfully support the bizarre idea of "dysbacteriosis" - a condition of allegedly disturbed intestinal microflora, which is supposedly treated with probiotics.

Probiotic products contain different strains of bacteria and their doses are different. It is not clear which bacteria are actually beneficial or what doses are needed for their action.

6 Validol.

Nothing more than a mint candy, which has a distant relation to medicine. Good for freshening breath. Feeling pain in the heart, a person puts validol under the tongue instead of nitroglycerin, which is mandatory in such situations, and leaves with a heart attack in the hospital.

7. Vinpocetine and Cavinton.

Today, it is not recommended for use: not a single benign study has revealed clinically significant effects in it. It is a substance obtained from the leaves of the Vinca minor plant. The drug has been little studied. Therefore, in the United States and many other countries, it refers to dietary supplements, and not to drugs. $15 a jar for a month of admission. In Japan, withdrawn from sale due to apparent inefficiency.

8. Nootropil, Piracetam, Semax, Tenoten, Phezam, Aminalon, Phenibut, Pantogam, Picamilon, - placebo drugs

Nootropil is used to improve metabolic processes occurring in the cerebral cortex. The active substance of nootropil - piracetam - is the basis of about 20 similar drugs on the Russian market, for example, pyratropil, lucetam and a number of drugs, the name of which contains the word "piracetam" itself. This substance is widely used in neurological, psychiatric and narcological practice. The Medline database lists publications from the 1990s on clinical studies, according to which piracetam is moderately effective in the recovery of the patient after a stroke, as well as in the treatment of dementia and dyslexia. However, the results of the randomized multicenter study PASS (Piracetam in Acute Stroke Study) in 2001 showed the lack of efficacy of piracetam in the treatment of acute ischemic stroke. There is also no information on the improvement of the functioning of the cerebral cortex in healthy people after taking piracetam. Currently, it is excluded by the US FDA from the list of medicines and is classified as a dietary supplement (BAA). It is not approved for sale in US pharmacies, but it can be ordered online or imported from neighboring Mexico. In 2008, the Formulary Committee of the British Academy of Medical Sciences made a statement that "the results of randomized clinical trials (1990s. - Esquire) on the use of the nootropic drug piracetam were methodologically flawed." However, in some cases, it can help older people with cognitive impairment. People who have used piracetam in combination with LSD and MDMA have claimed that it helps control a strong drug effect. In Russia, piracetam is actively used in the therapy of mental functions in children with Down syndrome. However, according to a study conducted in 2006 by a group of scientists led by Nancy Lobeau, piracetam did not confirm its effectiveness in this area: in 18 children with Down syndrome, after a four-month course, cognitive functions remained at the same level, aggression was observed in four cases, excitability in two , in one - an increased interest in sex, in one - insomnia, in one - lack of appetite. The scientists concluded: "Piracetam has no proven therapeutic effect in improving cognitive function, but has undesirable side effects."

Most of the trials for piracetam were done many years ago and did not use methods that are now considered the standard. Some studies suggest there may be some benefit to piracetam, but overall the evidence is inconsistent or positive enough to support its use for dementia or cognitive impairment.

Hopantenic acid (Pantogam, Pantocalcin) is a homologue of pantothenic acid, which differs from it by a main chain extended by one carbon atom. It acts presumably as an antagonist of pantothenic acid, due to which it is able to interfere with energy metabolism, and sometimes fatally. The use of Pantogam in Japan was discontinued in the early 1990s after a series of fatal complications in the form of Reye-like syndrome, Rett syndrome, etc. This drug has not been used in other developed countries.

9. Mexidol, Phenotropil, Mildronate - doping under the guise of nootropics - are used only in the CIS

Medline search did not reveal any randomized, placebo-controlled human trials.

10. Timalin, Timogen

The active substance of these drugs is a complex of polypeptides obtained by extraction from the thymus gland (thymus) of cattle. Initially, raw materials for the manufacture of preparations came from the Leningrad Meat Processing Plant. Doctors widely prescribed thymalin (injections) and thymogen (nasal drops) for adults and children as an immunomodulator and biostimulant for conditions and diseases that are accompanied by a decrease in immunity, including burns and frostbite, acute and chronic purulent-inflammatory diseases of bones, soft tissues and skin, acute and chronic viral and bacterial infections, various ulcers, as well as in therapy for pulmonary tuberculosis, multiple sclerosis, atherosclerosis obliterans, rheumatoid arthritis and to eliminate the negative effects of radiation and chemotherapy. The database of medical publications Medline lists 268 articles mentioning thymalin and thymogen (253 in Russian), but none of them contains information about a full (double, blind, randomized) study of the safety and efficacy of these drugs. In 2010, at the congress “Man and Medicine”, a report was heard by a postgraduate student of the Department of Clinical Pharmacology of the Moscow Medical Academy. Sechenov, Candidate of Medical Sciences Irina Andreeva, who argued that "the effectiveness and necessity of using drugs such as thymogen, thymalin and other immunomodulators, which are widely used in Russian medical practice, have not been proven in clinical studies." According to the specialists of the Institute of Hematology of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, "there is no evidence of the effectiveness of the use of thymalin and thymogen in complex radiation therapy." “The very concept of “lowering immunity” and the possibility of “increasing” it is an ugly simplification of knowledge about the complex system of immunity,” says Professor Vasily Vlasov. “None of the “immunity stimulants”, like levamisole, thymalin, amixin - there are many of them on the Russian market - has convincing evidence of usefulness, unless, of course, the manufacturer's profit is considered a benefit.

11. Bioparox, Kudesan no major studies have been conducted, all articles on Pubmed are mainly of Russian origin. The "studies" were conducted mainly on mice.

12. Wobenzim. Manufacturers claim that it heals, prolongs life and youth. Do not believe in the fairy tale about a miracle drug that has not been tested in experimental studies just because it is expensive. Pharmaceutical companies are investing hundreds of millions of dollars in drug trials, even if there is little hope that it will prove effective. One can only guess why these studies regarding Wobenzym have not been done so far. But a lot of money is invested in its advertising.

13. Glycine (amino acid) Tenaten, Enerion, St. John's wort, Grippol, Polyoxidonium

14. Glucosamine Chondroitin Not proven effective.

15. Corvalol, Valocordin.

It has been clinically proven that Corvalol (they contain a potent agent - phenobarbital) does not affect the course and outcomes of cardiovascular diseases, and at the same time it has been proven that phenobarbital, which is part of them, accumulates in tissues and subsequently destroys them. Phenobarbital is banned worldwide and is sold without a prescription only here. The drug valocordin, which has a hypnotic, vasodilating, sedative and antispasmodic effect, was developed in 1963 in Germany, and Corvalol is an almost complete Soviet analogue. Among other things, these "folk remedies for all heart diseases" contain psychotropic components - ethyl ester of a-bromizovaleric acid (about 3%) and phenobarbital (1.12%) - and therefore are completely unknown outside of Eastern Europe, and in the USA and completely banned from import. According to Professor Vasily Vlasov, “these drugs are registered as a heart remedy, but they do not treat the heart. The history of the creation of valocordin refers to the times when it was fashionable to treat all diseases with sleep. In fact, both drugs have an exclusively sedative effect, which is extremely pleasant for older people, especially women who are embarrassed to drink a glass of vodka with dinner. The therapeutic effect of drugs has not been proven by any clinical studies. In 2008, corvalol and valocordin began to be withdrawn from free, over-the-counter sales, but public protests forced representatives of the Federal Drug Control Service to declare that valocordin and corvalol, as well as other medicines containing a small amount of potent and toxic substances, would be subject to still sold without prescriptions.

16. Thrombovazim- thrombolytic, used to treat chronic venous insufficiency, acute coronary syndrome, myocardial infarction.

The main function of this "nano-drug" - the dissolution of blood clots - should make it a unique remedy for many diseases of the circulatory system. Drugs that can dissolve a blood clot and restore blood circulation are usually available in the form of solutions. According to the developers, scientists of the Novosibirsk Institute of Nuclear Physics, thrombovazim is "the world's first thrombolytic in tablets." “It's like a microsurgeon,” says Andrey Artamonov, director of the Siberian Center for Pharmacology and Biotechnology. “He runs through the vessels and eats blood clots without touching healthy tissues, so, firstly, there are no side effects, and secondly, the technology allows us to reduce toxicity dozens of times.” Thrombovasim is made from vegetable raw materials, processing it with an electron beam, and the polymers are combined with biomolecules. The electron beam method, according to physicists, "kills all toxins and microbes", which cannot be achieved with traditional chemical processing. According to the indication "treatment of chronic venous insufficiency", thrombovazim was registered in 2007. According to the database of Roszdravnadzor, the manufacturer was granted permission to conduct clinical trials of the drug's efficacy in acute coronary syndrome, acute myocardial infarction and retinal thrombosis, but it has not yet been registered for these indications. “The presented material looks doubtful,” says Pavel Vorobyov, deputy chairman of the Formulary Committee of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences. - A thrombolytic is usually administered intravenously even inside a thrombus, and it is difficult to imagine the absorption of such a substance with the presence of a biochemical target. As well as the fact that the powder from plants irradiated with something receives new supernatural properties. Manufacturers, without waiting for registration, released thrombovazim to the market quite a long time ago - as the basis of the DNI dietary supplement.

17. Tanakan, Preductal- drugs with a rather weak evidence base.

18. Cytochrome C + adenosine + nicotinamide (oftan catachrome), azapentacene (quinax), taurine (taufon) -

The active substance of taufon eye drops - 2-aminoethanesulfonic acid - is present in small amounts in the tissues and bile of animals, including humans. The second name of the acid - taurine - comes from the Latin taurus ("bull"), since it was first obtained by German scientists Friedrich Tiedemann and Leopold Gmelin from ox bile. Taurine is used in both the pharmaceutical and food industries - it is a common ingredient in many "energy drinks". For medical use, taurine is produced in Russia in the form of a 4% aqueous solution called taufon, which is prescribed for adults with degenerative lesions of the retina, cataracts, glaucoma, and also as a means of stimulating recovery processes in corneal injuries. However, there is no scientific evidence of the effectiveness of the drug: according to the database of Roszdravnadzor, no clinical trials of taufon have been conducted in Russia, and in the international database Medline there is only one publication indicating the connection of taurine with ophthalmology (Thimons JJ, Hansen D., Nolfi J Understanding taurine and its possible role in ocularhealth, Optometric Management, April, 2004. Its authors talk about clinical trials of their unique invention - Complete MoisturePlus cleaning and moisturizing liquid for contact lenses, made on the basis of taurine. According to the article, taurine “may protect lenses and, accordingly, eyes from dryness that occurs when working at a computer, damage and helps to moisturize it ... However, we cannot yet fully determine the role of taurine in healing the eyes.” Taurine-based drops are not available in Western pharmacies, although they can be ordered from www.alibaba.com in the US. The ability to prevent the development of cataracts and postpone the timing of the operation has not been proven;

19. Essentiale, Livolin Essentiale N,

Like numerous analogous drugs, it allegedly improves the condition of the liver. There is no convincing data on this, manufacturers do not seek to actively test them. And our legislation allows you to bring drugs to the market that have not passed the correct double-blind controlled trials. There are no studies that comply with the principles of evidence-based medicine, confirming the effectiveness of Livolin and its analogues in the treatment of liver diseases in general, and fatty hepatosis in particular.

20. Mezim Forte

21. Novo-passit.

For a simple herbal tincture, it is a little expensive. When promoting its product, the manufacturer actively used "individual work with key specialists and doctors." * Positioned as an anxiolytic - a psychotropic drug that suppresses anxiety, fear, anxiety, emotional stress. The composition of Novo-Passit includes a complex of liquid extracts of medicinal plants (valerian officinalis, lemon balm, St. It is guaifenesin that is attributed to the anxiolytic effect of the drug. Meanwhile, guaifenesin is only a mucolytic and cannot have the effect that is attributed to the drug. However, skipping a little alcohol before going to bed has never bothered anyone ...

22. Vitamins and trace elements

With active lobbying of vitamin manufacturers, we created a special program to provide pregnant women with vitamin preparations - Order of the Ministry of Health and Social Development of Russia No. 50 dated January 19, 2007 “... Provision of medicines (folic acid, potassium iodide, polyvitamin + multimineral, iron (III) polymaltose hydroxide, iron fumarate + folic acid, vitamin E, calcium carbonate) of women during pregnancy, is carried out in accordance with the list of vital and essential medicines ... "?

In fact, the amount of Folic acid during pregnancy does not decrease, and its reserves are quite sufficient. WHO writes his recommendations - on folic acid - for underdeveloped starving countries, where Russia does not belong.

As for iron. If there is no shortage, it is not necessary to give it at all. But the WHO people have not even heard about hydremia of pregnant women. Any decrease in hemoglobin is anemia for them. We voiced this topic, and now normal people (you can’t sew their heads on everyone) don’t give iron to pregnant women. There is no evidence for the benefits of taking vitamins B, C, D, E, and magnesium. Source - from the answer of Professor Vorobyov P.A.

23. Instenon, Cinnarizine. Instenon has not been used in other countries since the late 1970s.

24. Proproten 100- the dummy triggers the placebo effect.

The above drugs are persistently promoted by pharmaceutical companies and are still actively prescribed in our country. Moreover, some of them (such as Actovegin, Arbidol, Linex, Essentiale) have been on the lists of sales leaders for many years. The appointment of all these drugs lies entirely on the conscience of the attending physician and, first of all, speaks of his unprofessionalism. I really don't want to realize that in our country ineffective drugs can be prescribed by doctors out of selfish motives.

Dietary supplements (biologically active additives) are coming

There has been a rather disturbing trend recently. Advertisements of all kinds of dietary supplements (biologically active additives), which are presented under the guise of effective drugs, are falling on the layman in a continuous stream, although everyone knows that dietary supplements are not medicines and they CANNOT GET FROM DISEASE. It is especially sad to realize that this advertisement is being broadcast on central TV channels and leading radio stations. On the Ekho Moskvy radio, there is a continuous advertisement for The Emperor's Secret ... and even in Elena Malysheva's program, advertisements for all sorts of nonsense often slip through, including the products of the Evalar company

Dietary supplements in their appearance, packaging method, design resemble medicines and experts have long been sounding the alarm, since in the past, the patient often buys dietary supplements in pharmacies instead of purchasing the necessary medicines.
It would be much more correct if dietary supplements were sold in grocery stores next to spices and seasonings in approximately the same forms of packaging, without indications of a therapeutic effect, just the composition (after all, the content of useful substances is not written on beets or meat).
The list of dietary supplements sold in pharmacies under the guise of drugs can be continued endlessly ...
Apilak, Omacor, Lactusan, Cerebrum compositum, Nevrochel, Valerianochel, Gepar-compositum, Traumeel, Discus, Canephron, Lymphomyosot, Mastodinone, Mucosa, Ubiquinone, Zeel T, Echinacea, Influenza Hel and many, many others

It is also difficult to call homeopathic preparations medicines, they are difficult to certify, since the content of active substances in them is minimal - and in such concentrations they cannot have a therapeutic effect. Homeopathic medicines have a placebo effect, i.e. response to application.

Medicines that are prescribed by doctors but do not cure.
List of ineffective and useless medicines.

Medicines that do not cure are very popular in Russia. The thing is that doctors often base their opinion on the knowledge gained during their studies, when the term “evidence-based medicine” was practically not pronounced in Russian educational institutions. I can say that I heard it at the beginning of the 2000s, in my fifth year. That is, after successfully passing the exam in pharmacology.

List of drugs with unproven therapeutic efficacy

1. Actovegin, Cerebrolysin, Solcoseryl, (brain hydrolysates) - drugs with proven inefficiency! Actovegin is a medicine with an obscure composition: The active substance is blood components - deproteinized hemoderivative of calf blood, respectively. 40 mg dry weight containing sodium chloride 26.8 mg. On the English-language website of the manufacturer corporation, it is indicated that the extract from the blood of calves is sold only in Russia, the CIS, China and South Korea ... The drug has not passed a single test. In the countries of Western Europe and the USA, Actovegin is not used. Preparations containing components of animal origin are prohibited in developed countries. There is not a single study of Actovegin in the Cochrane Library. And at the same time, Actovegin is prescribed for almost everyone at any stage of pregnancy, during and after childbirth, for the treatment of burns, rehabilitation of the field of heart attacks and strokes, and for many chronic diseases.

2. Arbidol, Anaferon, Bioparox, Viferon, Polyoxidonium, Cycloferon, Ersefuril, Imunomax, Likopid, Isoprinosine, Primadofilus, Engystol, Imudon - immunomodulators with unproven efficacy. They are expensive. The conducted studies do not give grounds to consider arbidol as a drug with proven activity for the treatment of colds, including influenza. Researchers from abroad were not really interested in this drug. Well advertised and actively lobbied at the highest level.

3. ATP (adenotriphosphoric acid)
In cardiology, ATP is used only to relieve certain arrhythmias, which is associated with its ability to block the conduction of the AV node for a short time. In this case, ATP is administered intravenously, and the effect is limited to a few minutes. In all other cases (including the previously widespread use of intramuscular courses) ATP is useless, because this ATP “lives”, when introduced into the body, for a very short time, and then breaks down into its component parts, and the only possible result is an abscess at the injection site.

4. Bifidobacterin, Bifiform, Linex, Hilak Forte, Primadophilus, etc. - all probiotics. Abroad, it would never occur to any doctor to examine tests for the presence of microflora. The diagnosis of "dysbacteriosis", which is universally put forward by our pediatricians, does not exist anywhere else in the world. Does not need treatment.

5. Validol. Mint candy, which has a distant relation to medicine. Good for freshening breath. Feeling pain in the heart, a person puts validol under the tongue instead of nitroglycerin, which is mandatory in such situations, and leaves with a heart attack in the hospital.

5. Vinpocetine and Cavinton. Today, it is not recommended for use: not a single benign study has revealed clinically significant effects in it. It is a substance obtained from the leaves of the Vinca minor plant. The drug has been little studied. Therefore, in the United States and many other countries, it refers to dietary supplements, and not to drugs. $15 a jar for a month of admission. In Japan, withdrawn from sale due to apparent inefficiency.

6. Nootropil, Piracetam, Phezam, Aminalon, Phenibut, Pantogam, Picamilon, Instenon, Mildronate, Cinnarizine, Mexidol - placebo drugs

7. Semax 214274

8. Tanakan, Ginko biloba - according to the tests, they do not have a positive effect on the memory and cognitive functions promised in the instructions.

9. Bioparox, Kudesan214272
no major studies have been conducted, all articles on Pubmed are mainly of Russian origin. The “studies” were conducted mainly on mice.

10. Wobenzim. Manufacturers claim that it heals, prolongs life and youth. Do not believe in the fairy tale about a miracle drug that has not been tested in experimental studies just because it is expensive. Pharmaceutical companies are investing hundreds of millions of dollars in drug trials, even if there is little hope that it will prove effective. One can only guess why these studies regarding Wobenzym have not been done so far. But a lot of money is invested in its advertising.

11. Glycine (amino acid) Tenaten, Enerion, St. John's wort, Grippol, Polyoxidonium

12. Glucosamine Chondroitin Not proven effective.

13. Cocarboxylase, Riboxin- (cardiac, used in obstetrics, neurology, and intensive care). Actively used in Russia. Not applicable in developed countries. Never tested in serious studies. These drugs are supposed to somehow miraculously improve metabolism, help with many diseases and supposedly enhance the effect of other drugs.

14. Cogitum

15. Etamsylate (Dicynone) - a drug with no evidence of effectiveness

16. Sparfloxacin or Avelox moxifloxacin

17. Preductal

18. Cytochrome C + adenosine + nicotinamide (oftan catachrome), azapentacene (quinax), taurine (taufon) - the ability to prevent the development of cataracts and postpone the operation has not been proven;

19. Essentiale, Livolin Essentiale N, like numerous analogues, supposedly improves the condition of the liver. There is no convincing data on this, manufacturers do not seek to actively test them. And our legislation allows you to bring drugs to the market that have not passed the correct double-blind controlled trials. There are no studies that comply with the principles of evidence-based medicine, confirming the effectiveness of Livolin and its analogues in the treatment of liver diseases in general, and fatty hepatosis in particular.

Dietary supplements and homeopathy are not medicines

1. Aqua maris- (sea water)

2. Apilak. - Dietary supplement with unproven effectiveness.

3. Novo-passit. Novo-passit contains a complex of liquid extracts of medicinal plants (valerian officinalis, lemon balm, St. One of the active ingredients of Novo-Passit is guaifenesin. It is he who is credited with the anxiolytic effect of the drug. Meanwhile, having climbed through the pharmacological reference books that I found at home, I found that guaifenesin is a mucolytic and is used, respectively, for coughing. Novo-Passit is another hack of the pharmacological industry, and its effectiveness is due either to the herbs that make up the composition, or ... the placebo effect. I did not find in any article after 1990 that G. has an anxiolytic effect. A source

4. Omacor - dietary supplement

5. Lactusan - dietary supplement

6. Cerebrum compositum (produced by Heel Gmbh), Nevrochel, Valerianochel, Gepar-compositum, Traumeel, D iscus, Canephron, Lymphomyosot, Mastodinone, Mucosa, Ubiquinone, Zeel T, Echinacea, Influenza-heel, etc. - Homeopathy. 214258 are not drugs, they do not have a therapeutic effect, they have a placebo effect, i.e. response to application.

The use of these "drugs" is entirely on the conscience of the attending physician, with the obligatory informed consent of the patient to use (means with unproven effectiveness). Worse in the event that inefficiency is proven - then it is not recommended to prescribe it. The following drugs are intrusively promoted by pharmaceutical companies in our country, despite the fact that most of this list is not used anywhere else in the world, except in the CIS countries.

There is no official definition of "ineffective drugs" - so let's try to do it ourselves. Ineffective drugs are drugs whose therapeutic efficacy has not been proven as a result of reliable clinical trials conducted in full accordance with the requirements of evidence-based medicine. Simply put, medicines with unproven effectiveness are “dummy medicines”.

PS. From the resolution of the Meeting of the Presidium of the Formulary Committee of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences dated March 16, 2007

1. Immediately withdraw from the list of medicines, according to which medicines are provided in the DLO program, obsolete drugs with unproven effectiveness -
cerebrolysin, trimetazidine, chondroetin sulfate, vinpocetine, piracetam, fenotropil, arbidol, rimantadine, validol, inosine, valocardine, etc., including those available without a prescription;

All these drugs are still sold in pharmacies ...

Unfortunately, in our country there is no system for monitoring the side effects of drugs, procedures for monitoring the effectiveness of the drug have not been worked out, the data of clinical trials are insufficient or conducted with violations, often sponsored by a pharmaceutical company with an ordered result, and YOU, when purchasing drugs prescribed by a doctor in a pharmacy, are in in some sense "guinea pig".