More than 131 million U.S. adults take at least one prescription medication regularly, and the average person takes four. So it's not surprising that more than 1.3 million adverse drug reactions send Americans to the emergency room each year.

Such negative reactions to medications often happen when two or more drugs are taken, causing one medication to either have a weaker or a stronger effect, or the interaction triggers cardiac problems, bleeding, kidney dysfunction, low blood pressure, or seizures.

And now, a new contraindication has appeared. Paxlovid, the antiviral that helps keep COVID-19 from sending you to the hospital, turns out to interact with a wide range of prescription drugs, including antiplatelet medications, anticoagulants, and antiarrhythmic drugs used to reduce the risks of atrial fibrillation, stroke, and blood clots; lipid-lowering agents such as statins; and drugs to ease angina, high blood pressure, pulmonary high blood pressure, and heart failure.

Writing in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, the researchers suggest that if you cannot suspend or reduce the dose of contraindicated meds while on Paxlovid, you shouldn't take the antiviral — and sometimes even that will not make it safe for you to take it within the timeframe required.

An alternative? An infusion of monoclonal antibodies.

Talk to your doctor about Paxlovid-medication interactions that may affect you. Also, get your COVID-19 vaccinations and boosters so you have a better shot at never needing Paxlovid.