Medication Information for Patients

Should patients receive the same information about medication that doctors get? YES!


The information from the drug company that comes with the medication should be given to the patient. After all the patient is the one taking the medicine. The benefits and the risks should be readily available; however, this is very seldom the case. Most of the time the doctor has not read this information, and does not give it to the patient. There is usually a lot to read. There is so much to read that most drug companies use extremely small print on a 10 foot long sliver of paper to tell about the drug. Fortunately, this information is now available on the Internet drug company web sites.

How many doctors or pharmacists even get to the last page of "patient counseling information"? If there is specific patient information, why is it at the end? Why is there information "for doctors only"? Why is the patient information so different from the doctor information?

Medication errors occur far too frequently to leave the patient out. Medication awareness for patients should be as important as diagnosis and treatment. Full disclosure of the good, bad and ugly effects of medication should be available to anyone who wants to know about it - especially the one taking it.


By J.L. Richardson, MD, family medicine doctor, patient, patient advocate, and author of the award winning Patient Handbook to Medical Care: Your Personal Health Guide.

www.mypatienthandbook.com
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