‹ chat status<p>Irene and I were together to talk about finally receiving the autopsy report on my baby sister, dead this past March at fifty-three. We also got all the toxicology and tissue reports, as required by law. Between us and a few friends who practice medicine, we were able to make sense of it.<br><br>It turns out her physician apparently paid little attention to the medications he was prescribing for her, because literally EVERY medication she was taking interacted badly with EVERY OTHER medication she was taking. All prescribed by one physician. Which brings me to my point. <br><br>In the majority of medical schools, there is no requirement for pharmacology studies. It is offered, because Pharmacists also study there, but it is considered optional for Medical School students. Most physicians receive what education they get about medications from those neat-as-a-pin sales men and women usually women, working for the pharmaceutical houses that make the drugs. This is just wrong. This absolutely has to change. <br><br>Doctors should have a minimum of three credit hours of Pharmacology for every year they are in medical school. You can't transfer your liability or responsibility for the "other effects" of medicine to an unknown pharmacist somewhere, to look out for your mistakes and cover your butt. Some pharmacies have computers that do just that, as a courtesy. Ultimately, the responsibility lies with the prescribing physician. She or he has possibly attended a seminar about the drug. More likely, they have listened to and trusted a sales consultant who is paid to talk up the good effects, and downplay the other effects, of the drugs their companies make. The doctors I know socially tell me, "These people are usually very knowledgeable about medical language, and seem very trustworthy." That is a very comforting thought to someone, I'm sure. Not me. <br><br>The same Pharmaceutical Houses are advertising to all and sundry about their erectile dysfunction medicine during prime time. (Try explaining THAT to an eight year old!) Another example: Almost everybody has heard of Lyrica, the televisions are full of ads for it. It's a fairly new drug much vaunted for treatment of Fibromyalgia and the pain of neuropathology from whatever cause. That's the drug that gave me grand mal seizures and put me in intensive care for two days, with my blood pressure at less than half of normal until my third day in the hospital. Just between us, seizures scare the living poop out of me. It's probably there, on the Patient Information Sheet. Have you ever seen the little bitty type on the "Patient Information" sheets? I can't read them with a magnifying glass. <br><br>"Oops, nearly died? Sorry. Come back soon and we will find something else to try." Read: experiment with. I think NOT. <br><br>So between her blood pressure medication, her medicine for panic disorder, and a generic substitute that "is really remarkably close to the original drug" according to my pharmacist, for her anti-depressant, and with less than normal quantities of any medicine in her blood and tissues, literally minuscule quantities, my stone cold sober sister's heart stopped and her lungs stopped working. Period. The end. Accidental death from toxic interaction of prescribed medication. I'm sad and angry and there is nobody for me to blame, really. A lawsuit would take years. And in the end, we couldn't buy a new Sylvia. What would be the point?</p>
posted on Oct 2, 2008 2:11 AM ()
Stephy, that's just awful sad news to learn this truth. I'm so sorry.
It is outrageous the mistakes that are made at the cost of our loved ones and ourselves. My mom's death was directly related to health care providers' incompetence.
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Yes, doctors in all medical schools should have intense pharmacology training. We nurses get it in nursing courses, but for the 4 year degree, we have to take at least one class in it! For Advanced practice, we have to take a graduate class in it as well. It makes no sense. I have seen new docs with those PDAs, when I ask them something, they whip it out, and I can't help myself but to say "just give me that and I'll leave you alone tonight.."