When your doctor prescribes a new medication, are the dosing and potential side effects thoroughly discussed? For many patients they are not, as a recent study discovered.
There is no single ideal dose of any medication for all patients, because people often respond differently to the same medications. The dose must be tailored to you and your specific medical needs. The goal is to identify the minimum effective dose: one that provides sufficient benefit, with minimum side effects, and at the lowest cost.
On the other hand, the maximum useful dose is the point beyond which increasing the dose offers no additional benefit and, potentially, confers an increased risk of side effects.
And it is often left to the consumer to determine how best to use their medications, this according to a study reported in the Archives of Internal Medicine (Volume 155, page 1855). A study of physicians in Sacramento, California, found “spotty” and "overall poor" patient counseling about new prescriptions and over-the-counter drugs.
Researchers used surveys and tape recordings to document 185 doctor-patient encounters involving a new prescription medication or recommendation. The doctors were evaluated on how well they communicated five types of information about a new medication: its name, its purpose, how long to take it, how often to take it, the amount to take each time, and potential side effects.
The doctors got relatively good marks for citing the proper name of the medications and the purpose of the prescription. A little more than half the time they said how many tablets to take and how often. However, they discussed adverse side effects and the duration of dosing (whether it was a one-time prescription or the patient needed refills) only about a third of the time.
These findings don’t necessarily represent the practice of all physicians. But it would be smart to educate yourself about your own medications, by reading labels and asking the pharmacist questions if you find the doctor hasn’t told you all you want to know.
