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Originally Posted by Unregistered
Nitrates are a concern for patients taking PDE2 inhibitors. Hypotensive crisis. As it is I dont see many drs warning their patients about informing the A&E dr or paramedics about recent use of PDE2 inhibitor in the event they suffer a heart attack and are brought into hospital for treatment. How many Drs do that? Onus is on the A&E dr to ask before giving nitrates.
These things can be put on the product information or the box labels. Not a big problem. Same with other medications with potential drug interactions.
Another one would be Tamsulosin causing mydriasis and leading to Floppy Iris Syndrome after cataract surgery. How many drs discuss this with their elderly male patients with BPH going for cataract surgery?
I would argue that putting information out there to empower patients is more important because many drs do not know enough. It is not entirely the Drs fault because the breadth of knowledge is just too huge for one person to cover much less go in depth.
Whereas with patients they will google everything about ONE condition or ONE medication because it is relevant to them.
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Not sure if you’re actually a doctor.
But listing out ALL the side effects on the drug packaging usually results in the patient not wanting to take meds. Starting patients on chronic meds usually requires extensive counseling, weighing the risks and benefits of the drug, customizing it to the patients risk profile.
It’s true, my patients love googling all the side effects / adverse reactions, or even stop wanting to take even common meds after being informed about the rare side effects by the pharmacist. It’s up to the doctors to help navigate patients through the sea of information out there.
Sure. Things like random cough cold medications, charcoal pills for diarrhea… no problem putting it on the shelves (they already are). But I would argue that for chronic medications it’s not that easy.
Secondly, it would disadvantage the population segment that has poor health literacy.
Sure, those who are brilliant (and usually higher SES) can google their way through, use UpToDate drug interaction checker, consult their specialist friends on their speed dial at their whim and fancy before taking meds. But many who are not so well educated will struggle to understand probability, risk and statistics (already beautifully displayed by the ongoing misinformation spreading during the pandemic).
Innovation will surely drive change and transformation over the next decade. And yes, some functions of doctors for some patient demographics will no doubt be made obsolete. But there are certain things that cannot be replaced no matter how advanced we are as a country in our technology / education system, even in the foreseeable future.