Undesired effects caused by a medication are called what?

• A. Side effects
• B. Indications
• C. Pharmacokinetics
• D. Mechanism of action

Answer: (A)

Undesired effects caused by a medication are called side effects. These are secondary results of a drug beyond its intended therapeutic effect and can be mild or more serious. They arise because the drug interacts with the body in ways that aren’t the primary goal of therapy, and they may vary by dose, patient, or context.

Indications are what the drug is used to treat. Pharmacokinetics describes how the body handles the drug—absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion. Mechanism of action is how the drug produces its effects at the molecular level. So the term that best fits “undesired effects” is side effects, since it specifically names those secondary, often unintended, responses to the medication.