Dr. Cohen's Biography
Jay S. Cohen, M.D. is a nationally recognized expert on medications and side effects. His work has been featured in newspapers and magazines across America, including the New York Times, Newsweek, Washington Post, Consumer Reports, Wall Street Journal, Modern Majority, Women's Day, and many others. Dr. Cohen has appeared on more than 100 radio programs including National Public Radio, the People's Pharmacy, and the Gary Null show.
A long-time critic of the drug industry's marketing of stronger and stronger drugs with cookbook, often one-size-fits-all doses, he argues that medication doses should be adjusted for patients' size, age, states of health, or use of other medications. Dr. Cohen's best known book, critically acclaimed Over Dose: The Case Against The Drug Companies (Tarcher/Putnam), challenged drug company policies and their terrible results: each year, more than 106,000 deaths and 1,000,000 hospitalizations due to prescription drugs.
Dr. Cohen has presented his independent research on making medications safer as a featured speaker at major medical conferences. In 2002, as keynote speaker at a U.S. Food and Drug Administration conference, he presented his findings and debated with the FDA's top medication experts. In his books and medical journal articles, and on his MedicationSense website, he warned about problems with antidepressants such as Prozac and Paxil, anti-inflammatory drugs such as Celebrex and Bextra, and hormones such as Premarin and Prempro. Subsequently, each of these drugs became a national concern when serious new toxicities were revealed.
Dr. Cohen is not anti-medication. Medications help millions of people, but many others are harmed unnecessarily. Side effects also force millions of people from the treatment they need. His solutions would end many of these problems.
A strong advocate of patients' rights of informed consent, Dr. Cohen believes this includes a right for information on all serious side effects before being prescribed a new medication. Patients also should be informed about lower, safer, effective doses of medications -- information that most patients and doctors do not receive today. Flexible dosing is the key to reducing the high rate of side effects from prescription drugs. Dr. Cohen's goal is to maximize the benefits while minimizing the risks of medication treatment.
Dr. Cohen graduated Temple University Medical School in Philadephia, PA. After undertaking a rotating internship at St. Mary's Hospital and Medical Center in San Francisco, he practiced general medicine, then served as Medical Director of the UCLA Acupuncture Research Project, the first such program in America. From 1974-1977, he was a resident in psychiatry at the University of California, San Diego. Today, he is an Adjunct (voluntary) Associate Professor in Preventive Medicine and Psychiatry at UCSD and a practicing physician.
Dr. Cohen does not accept funding from the drug industry or government.
