Patient Mis-information

Just because information is easy to find, that doesn’t mean it is correct.

Everything that is taught in Medical School or Pharmacy School is now available for Free on the Internet. You can read every textbook, every PowerPoint and read every journal article ever written without having to be an MD or pharmacist. Consumer oriented websites like WebMD provide great information on a wide variety of topics. Google will find you a result for any search term you type in to your browser. The access to information is no longer a problem. You can read all the references that your medical providers use.

So we do so many people end up in the hospital with medication related adverse drug events?

The reason is that people frequently misinterpret the information they read. And when I say people, I am not just talking about patients. News anchors and TV and radio personalities blast out opinions when they don’t really understand how to interpret what they have read. And I am being generous by making the assumption they have done their homework. And then you have so many voices trying to sell remedies and health-related products that it is simply impossible to sort through everything and determine what is accurate. What is Sales Hype and what is just plain baloney?

Worst of all, most of the information reported, even if it was reported accurately, may be harmful to you.

Here is the reality of it all. If you are looking up information about the best treatment for cholesterol. You can find many resources that will point you to a particular statin drug to reduce cholesterol. And we consider these drugs the gold standard treatment. But if you have diminished liver function or your DNA causes you to not clear these drugs from your blood as quickly as the general public, you could risk a deadly side effect or severe injury. For many people, Statins can create a host of serious side effects.

What this means is you could think you are getting good information from a reputable source. But you may actually get dangerous advice that could put you in the hospital.

The Good News is that we can help

By working with our pharmacist team, we can show you how to get on the right medications, at the right dose. We can show you how to stop taking medications that could harm you in a safe and effective way. And we can show you how to never put yourself at risk again.

Through a combination of a Comprehensive Medication Review tailored to your specific case and a easy to administer home Genetic screening test, we can make sure that you, or someone you love, never puts themselves at risk again.

Researchers in 2018 have determined that the true cost of prescription drug related adverse events is over 528 billion a year in excess medical costs.

 

You can check out the research at this link:  Watanabe et al