A Dose of Reality (page 3 of 4)

How You Can Make Informed Decisions

1. Weigh the risks and benefits of any drug. As a smart consumer you must decide whether a drug is "safe enough" for you. The greater the benefit, the more risk you may be willing to take. If your illness is mild and not very bothersome, you may decide that any risk is too big and opt against taking any medication at all. Conversely, if your illness is serious or potentially life threatening, you may even be willing to try an experimental drug with greater risk for serious side effects.
   
   
2. Be especially cautious about new drugs. New drugs are inherently risky. So if you're taking one, monitor yourself carefully. Have your eating and digestive habits changed? Are you feeling unusually tired or conversely agitated? Have your breathing patterns or skin color changed? If so, call your doctor immediately, who may tell you to stop taking the drug. How does a consumer know that a drug is new? Ask your doctor or pharmacist.
   
   If you have a choice between two equally effective drugs, choose the one with a longer track record of safety. If you are taking a drug in the same class as one that has been recalled, it is prudent to ask your doctor if that drug places you at greater risk.
   
   
3. Know if you're in a high-risk group. Although scientists still don't know precisely why, certain individuals have bad reactions to a drug or to a particular dose of a drug, while others don't. Men metabolize drugs differently than women do, for example. Be especially vigilant if you are very young, very old or pregnant. Drugs usually aren't tested on these groups. "I worry the most about the elderly," says Avorn. "They are vastly under-represented in trials of drugs, yet they are the most likely to be taking the drugs when they are approved."
   
   
4. Ask the right questions. When you get a new prescription, never leave the doctor's office without a clear understanding of why you're taking the drug, how to take it, and how you'll know if it's working. Even if it makes you a bit uncomfortable, ask. You are responsible for your own health and safety. "If the doctor doesn't want to answer questions, you should probably find another doctor," says Avorn.
   
   After your visit, if you still have questions, call or e-mail the doctor. Use your pharmacist as an expert consultant for any additional concerns you have about the drug or its side effects.
   
   You can ask the pharmacist for the professional package insert, or PPI, for the drug, says Corr. Although it's written for health care providers, it includes information on clinical trials and side effects. Also, if there's been a label change, with new information about the drug or any warnings, it will be part of the PPI. Or request more consumer-friendly information, which should tell you how to use the drug properly and warn of any precautions. You can also call the drug company's toll-free number for more information, or go to its website.
   
   
5. Be informed, and follow directions carefully. Check to make sure that the pills you receive are the correct ones. Errors crop up in the dispensing of medications: It's easy to confuse products with similar names (for example, Zantac and Xanax).
   
   Read the instructions and take your pills exactly as prescribed. Be alert for expiration dates, and stay attentive to recalls and warnings. Tell your doctor about any other medications you take, either prescribed or OTC. Drug interactions can cause serious problems. For example, Posicor, an antihypertensive drug, was taken off the market because it could cause blood pressure to drop precipitously when used with other heart medications. If you fill all your prescriptions at the same store, the pharmacist may be able to warn you of known interactions.
   
   It is vitally important that patients and their doctors provide feedback to manufacturers and the FDA if they have any suspicion of a problem. Then these signals will be known and can be analyzed to see if they are more widespread, which could save lives.

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• Who Can You Trust?
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• Deadly Medicine
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• What Medicare's New Prescription Drug Benefit Means
• The financial facts and figures...
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• Better Than a Pill?
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