|
Article Excerpt
The principles of conservative prescribing
No matter what your politics, a conservative approach to medications is a good idea.
The old, jokey line was "take two aspirins and call me in the morning." But, of course, doctors prescribe a lot more than just aspirin these days. The medicine cabinet is crammed full: cholesterol-lowering statins, stomach acid*reducing proton-pump inhibitors, antidepressants, asthma drugs, diabetes drugs, sleeping pills, hormones. The amount of money that Americans spent on prescription drugs tripled between 1997 and 2007, although growth in our collective "pill bill" has slowed for many reasons (see sidebar).
People who genuinely need medications should take them; indeed, getting people to take medications as prescribed is a persistent problem. But there's some questioning of prescribing practices these days, much of it inspired by a growing conviction that American health care has become too dependent on expensive medications.
Dr. Gordon D. Schiff, a researcher at the Center for Patient Safety Research and Practice at Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Women's Hospital, wrote an article about more judicious use of medications that was published earlier in 2009 in The Journal of the American Medical Association. The article grew out of an educational project funded by a settlement of a lawsuit against the maker of gabapentin (Neurontin) alleging that the drug had been promoted illegally. Dr. Schiff and his coauthor, Dr. William Galanter at the University of Illinois at Chicago, identified a half-dozen broad principles of what they call "conservative prescribing." We've listed them below, revised so they take into account more of the patient's point of view. We also spoke with Dr. Schiff to get a few more specifics.
Some of the...
|
|
More articles from Harvard Health Letter
His and hers heart disease., September 01, 2009
Counting every step you take., September 01, 2009
By the way, doctor: Should I have seen a doctor sooner for a dog bite?..., September 01, 2009
Angina.(Disease/Disorder overview), July 01, 2009
Time to put some muscle into it., July 01, 2009
Looking for additional articles?
Search our database of over 3 million articles.
Looking for more in-depth information on this industry?
Search our complete database of Industry & Market reports by text, subject, publication
name or publication date.
About Goliath
Whether you're looking for sales prospects, competitive information, company
analysis or best practices in managing your organization,
Goliath can help you meet your business needs.
Our extensive business information databases empower business
professionals with both the breadth and depth of credible,
authoritative information they need to support their business
goals. Whether it be strategic planning, sales prospecting,
company research or defining management best practices -
Goliath is your leading source for accurate information.
|
|
