I try to read the peach section of the blade ( the Toledo newspaper) every day– I just glance at the other pages headlines – most of the time the stuff is too depressing to read about, and I know I live a sheltered life and for now, I would like to keep it that way. But I have come off the point of this post. Mr. Woods state that Americans are too quick to adapt new drugs that come out, though extensive studies have been done, there are rare side effects that do not occur until millions of people are taking a drug and that they are costly. Here is my response:
When I say that everyone is unique and that people have different personalities even raised in the same environment, it does not suprise anyone. Drug metabolism is just the same — in general, it acts similar, but some people have different responses to medications because something makes the reaction unique. Sometimes that is not the case, like in the case of the drug Thalomid– a drug that was used in the 50s and 60s as a sedative. It was thought to be so safe that even pregnant women were given this drug. As it turns out, many babies were deformed– ok– so we have a side effect that has affected a lot of babies, thus this resulted in the drug being withdrawn from the market. But it turns out, it does have its niche and has been reintroduced into the US drug market with safety precautions– and if used safely– with a complete risk versus benefit analysis — it can be used to treat a symptom associated with leprosy. Now lets compare this with the new drug Crestor ( a “super statin”). There have been reports that Crestor does induce liver failure and has a higher risk associated with this then the other statins. Okay, knowing this why would people need to use this drug? Well, in some cases, cholesterol control does not exist, even maximizing the cholesterol lowering diet and drugs available, so people do a risk analysis and determine if Crestor would help. When people make these decisions that should realize that the monitoring tests associated with these drugs are for a reason and not put them off. They should have have Liver Function Tests done on a regular basis and other parameters.
With so many people on any of the “statins”, risk of liver failure exists, but it is a rare side effect– does this mean that everyone should stop taking statins? No, but they would be stupid not to realize they have parameters that might require testing and that they should follow through with these parameters. The whole point of this was to say that drugs affect people differently and we need to approach this with every medication we take ( even aspirin, which has been around for over 100 years, can affect people differently).
Now lets address the cost issue: Ok, I will admit, the newer treatments will cost more, but sometimes the treatment outcome will outweigh the cost. I know people that suffer from migraines and none of the older treatments work, but the drug Axert works for them. Axert is not cheap, but offers the relief that the older drugs could not. But this is not always the case. When I have someone that cannot afford the newer medication, but did not tell their doctor this, I offer to call their doctor and recommend a therapy change to something that I have available in a generic drug. But sometimes when this is not the case, and the person needs the expensive medication, I try to come up with something that will work for the patient, like maybe a manufacturer discount card. Many pharmacists will do this for their patients, so don’t be afraid to talk to your pharmacist.
I am not discrediting anything that Mr. Woods stated in his article, but I am trying to point out there is more to the picture then he introduced.