wonder drug

noun

Definition of wonder drug

: a drug usually newly discovered that elicits a dramatic positive response in a patient's condition : miracle drug So far, Prozac is acting as something of a wonder drug; it is highly effective, causes few dangerous side effects, and is already the most widely prescribed antidepressant after just 4 years on the market.— Ruth Levy Guyer and Daniel E. Koshland Jr. Stodgy old aspirin suddenly appears to be a wonder drug. But as often happens in medicine, the news hype may have overreached in search of hope.— Steven Findlay

Examples of wonder drug in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Today, some have swung in the other direction, setting their sights on marijuana as a wonder drug with few downsides, even as rates of marijuana addiction are growing. — Angela Chen, The Verge, "Americans feel positively toward medical marijuana, but the research isn’t there yet," 28 July 2018 Over the three-day conference, engineers, business buffs, urban planners, government officials, and transportation researchers grappled with how to tell the public that its wonder drug of a transportation solution will have its limitations. — Aarian Marshall, WIRED, "Home From the Honeymoon, the Self-Driving Car Industry Faces Reality," 13 July 2018 The total cost, including the addiction-stopping wonder drug buprenorphine, is estimated at $6 million for two years. — Matier & Ross, San Francisco Chronicle, "SF Mayor Farrell’s plan to get 250 addicts off the street isn’t a cheap fix," 20 May 2018 In their article, Greene and Herzberg detail how ostensibly independent freelance science journalists were actually on the industry payroll, penning stories about new wonder drugs for popular magazines long before native advertising became a thing. — Jon Kelvey, Smithsonian, "How Advertising Shaped the First Opioid Epidemic," 3 Apr. 2018 Merck’s fortunes now rely heavily on its wonder drug. — The Economist, "Making Merck workA pharmaceutical firm bets big on a cancer drug," 22 Feb. 2018 In 1898, Bayer began selling this supposed wonder drug, marketing it as a cough suppressant. — Jerry Mitchell And Laura Ungar, The Courier-Journal, "Drugs kill more Americans than guns and cars. Kentucky was ground zero from the start," 28 Jan. 2018 If ever there was a wonder drug, aspirin might be it. — Viviane Callier, Scientific American, "Aspirin May Prevent Cancer from Spreading, New Research Shows," 1 May 2017 Today, some have swung in the other direction, setting their sights on marijuana as a wonder drug with few downsides, even as rates of marijuana addiction are growing. — Angela Chen, The Verge, "Americans feel positively toward medical marijuana, but the research isn’t there yet," 28 July 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'wonder drug.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.