I was born shortly before the thalidomide debacle/tragedy of the late '50s/early '60s. My mother was so spooked by it that we were raised not to take any prescription meds that had not been on the market at least 20 years (since shortened to going generic - ~17 years). That was the theory, anyway.

In my early 20s I was prescribed an NSAID called Zomax that I had never heard of. Questioning it at the time, my then PCP said, "It's new." I took it a few times, but it made me sick, so I stopped it, never told him, and life went on. I learned sometime later that the drug had been pulled off the market due to severe side effects including anaphylaxis, blackening of the tongue, and heart attack. I just may have dodged a bullet.

The next time that doctor prescribed me something "new", I handed it back and said, "No thanks - I'll take something that's been around as long as I have," and reminded him of the incident. He had no recollection of ever prescribing the drug, and I had to have him look it up in my records.

I've broken that rule a few times since (and it's conceivable I may again), when generic alternatives either weren't available or weren't effective for some reason, but not without researching them as thoroughly as I could. Most recently I put my foot down against Topamax (before it went generic) for migraine prophylaxis, and I stopped Lyrica several years ago when it just didn't work (before PN).

Those early (thalidamide, Zomax) experiences put us onto things like Worst Pills, Best Pills and the like.

(N.B. I've been watching the list of drugs causing PN. Nothing matches so far.)

Doc