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Points for Consideration by the Patient

Never take any medicine for granted. I ask you this as a longtime member of the medical community, as a parent, and as a fellow human being. I think our cavalier attitude toward medicines leads to serious problems far more often than we know. Did you know that research on medicine use over the past 15 years shows that more than half of the people who get a prescription fail to take it correctly? This is a prescription for disaster.

Study after study finds similar results. Dr. Lucian L. Leape of Harvard found 334 drug errors in six months at two major teaching hospitals in the United States. Fourteen of these errors were life-threatening. A U.S. and Canadian study placed the financial cost at more than 9 billion dollars in each country in 1996. A more recent study by Dr. Classen published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) placed the expense at 136 billion dollars a year in 1997. The human cost cannot be calculated. Of course we must do something, rather than simply recording an ever-increasing toll.

If you are being treated for a recurrent or chronic disorder, such as asthma or diabetes, learn as much as you can about the nature and medical management of your condition. Dr. James Long's book, The Essential Guide to Chronic Illness, is a superb resource. Ask your doctor and pharmacist for written information, visit your local libraries for pertinent publications, and call local chapters of national organizations. The more you know about your disorder and its treatment, the more you'll be able to use vour prescribed medications safely and effectively. Never be afraid to ask Your doctor or pharmacist questions-you help them when you help yourself. Any competent physician or pharmacist will welcome the chance to help you understand your medicines, regardless of how busy they may be.

If they won't give you this critical time, find another physician or pharmacist.

Work with your doctor and pharmacist to ensure that any medicine prescribed is the most appropriate for you. Share the responsibility for safe and effective drug treatment. Make sure every prescriber and pharmacist who helps provide your health care is aware of all of the medicines you are taking. Include prescription, nonprescription, and any herbal or nutritional support you take. Television, newspaper, and radio ads can be seductive, but the use of any medicine is a very individual decision. A widely advertised or used medicine may not be the best choice for you. Ask your doctor or pharmacist for printed information sheets that offer unbiased information about the drug's benefits and risks-and its appropriateness for you.

Drug therapy MUST always be individualized, and also based on current research and studies. NEVER take someone else's medicine because your symptoms sound just like theirs.