Word: drugging
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...Allergies: Go into any medical establishment at all these days and there's one question you will be asked again and again: "are you allergic to any medications?" Drug allergy is very different from drug sensitivity. In our current computerized medi-bureaucracy, you must be careful about telling hospital personnel that you are allergic to things you're really not. Those who your enter your medical information into the big hospital computer programs don't often ask if it's a true allergy - causing hives, itchiness, rashes, heart rate and blood pressure changes or breathing difficulties. Drug sensitivities...
...Once a drug you name gets listed in the computer as "allergy" though, the pharmacy computer kicks out any order a doctor makes for it; they won't send your nurses the drug. Then when you really need the drug, you might not be able to describe your reaction to it. Few practitioners take the time to go over your list, carefully asking, "now what really happens when you take X?"; they just won't prescribe it. We use first-line drugs first for a reason - they generally work the best with the least bad side effects. So you could...
...Product inserts: These are another thorn in our sides. Although distributed to millions of people, they seem to be written for only 12 - the ladies and gentlemen of the jury. The huge foldouts with the tiny writing are primarily there to cover the drug company's legal backside, but patients are reading them more and more. We then have to deal with indignant, or even angry patients coming back to us with steam shooting out of their ears. "Look what these pills do to you - it says it right here! Are you trying to kill...
...Although hard to read, product inserts include some terms with which everyone is familiar, specifically, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, insomnia, malaise and muscle aches as well as the ever-popular "unknown dangers to nursing mothers." Yes, these can actually be the side effects of the drug your doc has prescribed but remember: the drug company lists every symptom the people in their test groups report - and it doesn't "blank" the reports against placebo. People are very suggestible, (Do you feel nausea? - "well come to think of it..."). Some of them may happen to have a hangover or gastrointestinal...
...Generics: A good number of patients still ask for "the good stuff" - the actual brand name drug - not the generic forms. By law the pharmacy has to give you the far cheaper generic pill unless the doc writes "DAW" (Dispense As Written) in the little box on the script. It's easy for the doctor to do this - it takes less time and effort to write the three letters than to convince you you're wasting money. I've never seen any significant difference between the generic and branded versions of the drugs I prescribe. Neither have the colleagues...