What Doctors Don’t Tell You About Your Prescription Can Harm You

If you’d rather avoid an appointment with this man, then sign-up to the FREE Daily Health eletter...
where good health comes naturally!

The modern translation of the Hippocratic Oath read as follows: ‘ ...I will apply dietetic measures for the benefit of the sick according to my ability and judgment; I will keep them from harm and injustice. I will neither give a deadly drug to anybody if asked for it, nor will I make a suggestion to this effect...’

For those who may not know, The Hippocratic Oath is an oath traditionally taken by doctors swearing to ethically practice medicine. However, if the results of a recent study are anything to go by then inadequate training maybe preventing many doctors from being able to stay true to this oath.

Keep us from harm?

US researchers, led by Dr. Daniel Malone, professor at the University of Arizona College of Pharmacy, mailed a questionnaire to 12,500 US prescribers who were selected based on a history of prescribing drugs associated with known potential for drug to drug interaction. Prescribers were primarily doctors, medical assistants and nurse practitioners.

Recipients were asked to classify 14 drug pairs in to three categories:

* contraindicated (dangerous to use together)
* may be used together but with monitoring
* no interaction

Respondents could also state that they were “not sure.” For the drug pairs, one commonly prescribed medication was matched with another commonly prescribed medication.

The 950 respondents classified 42.7 per cent of all drug combinations correctly.

Of the 14 drug pairs presented, four of them were contraindicated and surprisingly, a majority of prescribers correctly identified only one of the four pairs as contraindicated!

Even worse, for seven of the 14 drug pairs, more than 317 of the respondents answered that they were “not sure,” and two of these drug pairs were contraindicated.

“The study found a very low rate of recognition of these particular interactions, and some of these interactions are very common”, said Dr. Malone. He also added that the research indicates that health professional training programmes are not doing enough to teach students about potential drug-drug interactions.

Where does this leave us as patients?

So, if doctors and health care professionals don’t know about dangerous drug interactions and contraindications, how on earth are they supposed to make safe recommendations?

Of course, we’ve all been asked by our doctors to disclose all medications and supplements we’re taking before a prescription is given. This is clearly not enough to ensure we won’t receive a prescription that may be potentially dangerous.

For instance, let’s say you are a smoker and you want to kick the habit. You are already on selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI) for treatment of anxiety and depression. Your doctor then decides to prescribe, Zyban, the smoking cessation drug. Since your doctor knows you’re on SSRIs you trust that he/she has made an informed medical decision to prescribe another drug that will not interact with your existing medication. Is this the case?

Sign up to The Daily Health e-letter - it’s FREE!    ("We value your privacy!")

In just 5 minutes every day, it will tell you what’s working, what isn’t – and what may harm you in both orthodox and alternative medicine.


“The HSI Daily Health e-Alerts contain scattered nuggets and gems of
health and nutritional wisdom.A very useful source of information about new thinking and
innovative treatments for a wide range of conditions.” - Dr AB, FRCS

Measures for the benefit of the sick

In my search to find a solution to this potential danger we are exposed to every time we accept a prescription, I found a website, drugs.com, which lists all possible drug interactions, food/lifestyle interactions and disease interactions of most pharmaceutical drugs.

According to drugs.com when Zyban is taken in conjunction with SSRIs like Prozac, there is a dose-related risk of seizures. If your doctor fails to mention this your health is at serious risk.

Let’s say while taking Zyban you experience one of the less severe side effects of this medication like a headache or migraine and you want to relieve the pain with a mild painkiller which contains codeine - you won’t know this but by taking a painkiller with codeine whilst on Prozac and Zyban, you will increase your risk of seizure tenfold...

To be fair, your doctor also wouldn’t have known this, because there is no way to predict what over-the-counter- drugs or remedies you may after a prescription was given to you... but it would be good to know which drugs and remedies to avoid whilst taking prescription medication.

It’s also unreasonable to expect any doctor to identify all the possible drug interactions of every single pharmaceutical available on the market - to give a few examples:

* Zyban (smoking cessation/ antidepressant) has 660 drug interactions (3825 brand and generic names)
* Prozac (antidepressant) has 808 drugs interactions (4441 brand and generic names)
* Crestor (cholesterol lowering statin) has 142 drugs interactions (701 brand and generic names)
* Celebrex (arthritis) has 484 drugs interactions (2720 brand and generic names)

Help your doctor keep you safe

What can you do to ensure that you are receiving a prescription drug that won’t cause you harm or interact with any other prescription drugs or over-the-counter-remedies you are taking?

* Ask your doctor about any possible drug interactions and side effects
* Tell your doctor exactly which supplements and medications are part of your daily regime – make a list if necessary and take it along to your consultation.
* If you feel your doctor did not give you all the information you need to feel safe about your prescription, ask your pharmacist to confirm any drug interactions and side effects with you when you collect your prescription.
* Use a website like drugs.com and find out exactly what you have been prescribed and what side effects and possible interactions you may experience.
* If you feel unsafe or unhappy with your prescription ask your doctor to discuss alternatives or to change your prescription. If your doctor is unwilling to accommodate you as a patient with valid questions and needs, find a doctor that will take your health seriously.

To visit the Drug Interaction Checker on drugs.com, click this link: 

Did you find this information useful?
Then why not get more expert health recommendations just like this
delivered direct to your inbox
Sign up here to The Daily Health e-letter - it's FREE!     ("We value your privacy!")


"It is truly refreshing to read a newsletter on the topic of alternative medicine which is scientifically based and reviewed by professionals………" - Robert Sinott

Sources:

‘Pharmacy Research Shows Prescribers Miss Potentially Dangerous Drug Pairs’ published online 16.07.09, sciencedaily.com

Drug Interactions Checker – Zyban, SSRIs, Codeine, Prozac, Crestor, Celebrex, published online, drugs.com