Graedon, Joe (David) 1945-

views updated

GRAEDON, Joe (David) 1945-

PERSONAL: Born August 8, 1945, in New York, NY; son of Sid (a literary agent) and Helen (Ars) Graedon; married Teresa Lynn (a medical anthropologist and professor), August 27, 1970; children: David Emil. Education: Pennsylvania State University, B.S., 1967; University of Michigan, M.S., 1971.

ADDRESSES: Home—215 Pineview Rd., Durham, NC 27707. Agent—Sid Graedon, R.D. #1, Box 60-B, New Hope, PA 18938.

CAREER: New Jersey Neuro-Psychiatric Institute, Princeton, research assistant in pharmacology, 1967-69; Benito Juarez Autonomous University, Oaxaca, Mexico, professor of pharmacology, 1972-74; teacher of adult education course on medicine in Doylestown, PA, 1975; Duke University, Durham, NC, guest lecturer in pharmacology, beginning 1976. Contributor and consultant to KABC-TV, Los Angeles.

MEMBER: American Association for the Advancement of Science, Society of Neuroscience.

AWARDS, HONORS: National Institute of Health fellowship, 1969-71.

WRITINGS:

The People's Pharmacy: A Guide to Prescription Drugs, Home Remedies, and Over-the-Counter Medications, St. Martin's Press (New York, NY), 1976, revised as The People's Pharmacy, Totally New and Revised, St. Martin's (New York, NY), 1985.

(With wife, Teresa Graedon) The People's Pharmacy-II, Avon (New York, NY), 1980.

Joe Graedon's The New People's Pharmacy: Drug Breakthroughs for the '80s, Bantam (New York, NY), 1985.

Fifty-plus: The Graedons' People's Pharmacy for Older Adults, Bantam (New York, NY), 1988.

(With Teresa Graedon) Graedon's Best Medicine: From Herbal Remedies to High-Tech Rx Breakthroughs, Bantam (New York, NY), 1991.

(With Tom Ferguson) No Deadly Drug, Pocket Books (New York, NY), 1992.

(With Tom Ferguson) The Aspirin Handbook: A User's Guide to the Breakthrough Drug of the '90s, Bantam (New York, NY), 1993.

(With Teresa Graedon) The People's Guide to Deadly Drug Interactions: How to Protect Yourself from Life-threatening Drug/Drug, Drug/Food, Drug/Vitamin Combinations, St. Martin's Press (New York, NY), 1995, revised as Dangerous Drug Interactions: How to Protect Yourself from Harmful Drug/Drug, Drug/Food, Drug/Vitamin Combinations, 1999.

(With Teresa Graedon) The People's Pharmacy Guide to Home and Herbal Remedies, St. Martin's Press (New York, NY), 1999.

Contributor to Esquire and to professional journals. Coauthor, with Teresa Graedon, of syndicated column "People's Pharmacy," 1978, and of syndicated radio show "People's Pharmacy," 1980—.

SIDELIGHTS: Joe Graedon is the author, with wife Teresa Graedon, of the syndicated newspaper column "People's Pharmacy" and the couple cohosts the weekly radio program of the same name. The column is carried in over sixty newspapers nationwide, while the radio program is featured on some 500 stations. In addition to the column and radio show, the Graedons have also published a number of books about drugs, herbal remedies, natural health treatments, and the dangers of drug interactions. Joe Graedon's bestselling The People's Pharmacy: A Guide to Prescription Drugs, Home Remedies, and Over-the-Counter Medications was the first consumer guide to drugs. Speaking of the Graedons' books, Arthur A. Levin in Healthfacts wrote: "What has distinguished their books from others is the informative background narrative accompanying specific drug facts and their openness to alternative remedies such as herbals and diet."

The Graedons' openness to herbal and home remedies is evident in their willingness to listen to the experiences of their audience, no matter how unlikely they may at first seem. Among the remedies they have learned from listeners to their radio show, and have subsequently verified, are the use of Vicks VapoRub on toenail fungus and gin-soaked raisins to ease arthritic pain. "When there is any science to back up an herbal therapy or a home remedy," Graedon explained to Karen Garloch in the Charlotte Observer, "we try and give that too. There is a lot of science behind the herbs." But while the Graedons appreciate herbal cures, they believe strongly that herbs must be regulated to prevent wild claims being made. Graedon told Garloch that such regulation should not be run by the Federal Drug Administration: "The FDA has this seemingly inflexible attitude that herbs are either dangerous or not very effective. My old attitude, basically. And you wouldn't want to put that kind of organization in charge because nobody is going to really trust or believe them."

In The People's Guide to Deadly Drug Interactions the Graedons explain that many people who are taking prescription medicines are not aware that taking other drugs or eating certain foods could prove to be a fatal combination. Some common vitamins and minerals, for example, interfere with antibiotics and other medications. The Graedons present detailed charts showing the possible interactions between prescription drugs and foods, minerals, vitamins, over-the-counter drugs, and alcohol. Also explained are special effects that parents, women, and the elderly should know. "This book fills a genuine need in consumer-health collections," according to Jan Lewis in Booklist.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, January 1, 1996, Jan Lewis, review of The People's Guide to Deadly Drug Interactions, p. 890.

Charlotte Observer, April 12, 2002, Karen Garloch, "Followers Embrace 'People's Pharmacy' Columnists."

Chicago Sun-Times, October 13, 1976.

Chicago Tribune, November 24, 1976.

Detroit News, October 4, 1976.

HealthFacts, August, 1991, Arthur A. Levin, review of Graedons' Best Medicine, p. 2.

Health News and Review, April, 1991, review of Graedons' Best Medicine, p. 12.

Library Journal, December, 1999, Andy Wickens, review of The People's Pharmacy Guide to Home and Herbal Remedies, p. 104.

New York, August 23, 1976.

U.S. News and World Report, August 22, 1988, Anne McGrath, "Cautious Pill Popping after 50," p. 64; September 13, 1993, Susan Brink, "Everybody's Miracle Drug: Pharmacologist and Consumer Advocate Joe Graedon's Latest Book Suggests Some Surprising New Uses for Ordinary Aspirin," p. 77.