Drs often write off patient side effects from drugs
- From: Debs <YOURFOOTdebs02114@xxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 29 Aug 2007 22:50:29 -0400
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_54086.html
Docs often write off patient side effect concerns
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Reuters Health
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
By Anne Harding
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - When patients feel they might be having an
adverse drug effect, doctors will very often dismiss their concerns, a
new study shows.
In a survey of 650 patients, taking cholesterol-lowering drugs called
statins, who reported having adverse drug reactions, many said their
physicians denied that the drug could be connected to their symptoms,
Dr. Beatrice A. Golomb of the University of California at San Diego
and her colleagues found.
"Physicians seem to commonly dismiss the possibility of a connection,"
Golomb told Reuters Health. "This seems to occur even for the best-
supported adverse effects of the most widely prescribed class of
drugs...Clearly there is a need for better physician education about
adverse effects, and there is a strong need for patient involvement in
adverse event reporting."
The best-known side effects of statins, which include widely
prescribed drugs such as Lipitor and Zocor, are liver damage and
muscle problems, although statins have also been tied to changes in
memory, concentration and mood, among other problems.
Physician reaction to a potential side effect is crucial because the
muscle problems can progress to a rare but potentially fatal condition
called rhabdomyolysis if the drug isn't discontinued.
The researchers investigated the response of doctors to statin
patients who believed they were having adverse drug reactions. In the
great majority of cases, the patient, not the doctor, initiated the
discussion.
Forty-seven percent of patients with muscle problems or cognitive
problems said their doctors dismissed the possibility that their
symptoms were statin-related, while 51 percent of patients with
peripheral neuropathy, a type of nerve pain affecting the extremities,
said their doctors denied a possible connection with statins.
Overall, 32 percent of patients reported that their doctors told them
there was no link between their symptoms and statin use, 39 percent
said their physicians said such a connection was possible, and 29
percent said their doctors "neither endorsed nor dismissed the
possibility of symptom link to statins."
The investigators were "surprised" at how frequently patients reported
that their doctors dismissed their concerns, Golomb said. While her
study wasn't designed to find out why, the researcher notes that while
the pharmaceutical industry is sure to get the word out about a drug's
benefits, there is "really no corresponding interest group to make
sure that physicians learn about adverse effects."
Patients should be aware of the potential adverse effects of any
medication they're taking, she said. And those who find their doctors
dismiss their concerns should probably look elsewhere for medical
care, she added. "In general patients should always have physicians
that they feel are hearing them."
SOURCE: Drug Safety, August 2007.
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