Your Responsibilities to Yourself as a Patient

Your Responsibilities to Yourself as a Patient

We are still to need the data about consideration by the patients to their prescription medications in Indonesia. Studies of medication usage in USA performed over the past 15 years have shown that more than 50 % of patients take their prescription drugs incorrectly. There are a variety of reasons that contribute to this wasteful and sometimes hazardous practice.

James W. Long,M.D. was writing six points for consideration by the patient in his book : Essential Guide to Prescription Drugs, 1993. I want to quote four points of them that important followed if you are a patient. The information you need to know for safe and effective drug use. The following suggestions are offered to reduce confusion and misunderstanding and to increase the likelihood that you take the right drug for the right reason at the right time and the right way.

1. 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. Ask your physician and pharmacist for written information they may have available for distribution; visit your local libraries and book stores for pertinent publications; consult local chapters of national organization that provide educational materials for specific disorders. The more you know about your disorder and its treatment, the more able you will be to use your prescribed medications safely and effectively.  
2. Cooperate fully with your physician and pharmacist to ensure that the diagnosis of your disorder is as accurate as possible and that treatment prescribed is the most appropriate for you. It is incumbent upon you to share the responsibility for obtaining safe and effective drug treatment. 
3. Do not be unduly influenced by seductive advertising of prescription drug products to the public through television commercials, magazine displays, celebrity endorsements, etc. Ask your physician and pharmacist for unbiased, objective information regarding the drug’s benefits and risks-and its appropriateness for you. 
4. Your responsibilities – to yourself – as a patient:

• Know both the generic and brand name of all drugs prescribed for you.
• If you are taking more than one drug, be sure that the label of each container includes the name of the drug and the condition it treats.
• If you do not clearly understand the directions for using a drug, consult your physician or pharmacist before taking it.
• Follow all dosing instructions carefully and completely. Comply fully to obtain the maximal benefit the drug can provide. If you have trouble remembering to take your medications “on time”, ask your pharmacist for a dosing calendar or a weekly medication box.
• If you are taking medications prescribed by more than one physician, check the generic names of all prescriptions to ensure that you are not taking duplicate drugs with different brand names. This could cause serious 'overdosage'.
• Nonprescription drugs can interact unfavorably with prescription medications. Ask your physician or pharmacist before you begin taking any new over-the-counter preparations.
• Be certain all drugs you take are “in date”-have not expired according to the dating on the label.  

General practice prescribing is a co-operative exercise between the patient/client, physician and pharmacist. Good communications between all three leads to a successful outcome. The physician often however, and studies show that pharmacist spend more time explaining drug treatments to patients than physicians do. Similarly, a patient's first request for help may be to a pharmacist who may suggest that a physician’s advice or prescription is needed.

The physician and pharmacist thus work together, with the pharmacist sometimes providing a safety net for errors arising out of a physician’s and book stores for pertinent publications haste or inexperience. Naturally if a patient already has a clear idea on the medical condition outcome is much more likely to be assured.

The criteria for selection of a drug include the following :

1. The drug is used to treat a serious or significant disease or disorder.
2. The drug is recognized by experts to be among ‘the best choices’ within its class.
3. The benefits of the drug equal or exceed its risks.
4. The safe and effective use of the drug requires special information and guidance for both the health care practitioner (physician, dentist, pharmacist, nurse) and the health care consumer (patient and family).
5. The drug is suitable (safe and practical) for use in an outpatient setting – usually self administered in a nonmedical environment (home, work, site, school, etc.).

Andi Surya Amal, SSi,Apt,M.Kes

Reference :

1. Long,J.W.,1993, The Essential Guide to Prescription Drugs, Harper Perennial, A Division of Harper Collins Publisher.
2. ………., 1993, Medicines; A Comprehensive Guide, Parragon.