Too Many Warnings
An analysis of more than 5,600 drug labels and more than 500,000 side effects found that prescription drug labels include an average of 70 different potential adverse reactions — a number that jumps to 100 side effects for some commonly prescribed drugs.
Some drugs in the upper range even listed up to 525 reactions.
…. this expansion may have more to do with worries about litigation rather than actual health concerns, say the study authors.
Full article on the growing lists of prescription medication warnings.
I’m sure the real reason is litigation concerns, not communicating with patients.
Agree. Totally. They give you way too much information. It’s not helpful.
Pretty much all of the package inserts I’ve read say one thing: if you take this you could die.
Many of the side effects warned about occur at the same rate as in a placebo. Thus, most warnings are designed to protect drug makers from litigation rather than drug takers from (non-existant) harm.
There is also psychology involved. Drug warning labels exaggerate the side effects when most of will never occur. We are relieved when the drug is well-tollerated rather than angry when one unanticipated side effect does occur.
I would bet that most people report side effects that don’t really exist.
All of the side effect lists read like a horror novel to me. I’d rather just deal with the illness and let my body take care of it.
Pharmacies and home health are starting to send more notifications about “potential” drug interactions. One Home Health company has a computer program that analyzes the patients meds for possible drug interactions and prints out a bibliography of articles from studies that may indicate a problem could occur. Many of these articles date back to the 60’s and 70’s and advise about trivial issues that have no bearing on the patient’s situation. And, it becomes good ammunition for plaintiff attorneys to use in the courtroom if a problem occurs.