v When It Comes To Your Rx, The Doctor KnowsBest (NAPSA)—When you have a question about your health, to whom do you turn for advice? Your family doctor...or a trial lawyer? The answer should be obvious. However, some lawyers are gaining growing influence over patients’ health care decisions. Case in point: a recently released poll conducted by Harris Interactive reveals that one in four patients would immediately cease taking a prescribed drug upon seeing an advertisement for a lawsuit over the drug. And, more than one-third of doctors report that some of their patients stopped taking properly prescribed medications after finding out about pending druglitigation. “This trend of patients being scared by lawyer-driven advertising is very dangerous,” said Bill Roper, MD, former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and currently dean and professor of health policy and administration at the University of North Carolina School of Public Health. “What these patients don’t realize is that claims attorneys make about a drug’s safety are often groundless. No patient should discontinue taking his medication without first consulting with his doctor.” While all drugs carry some risk of side effects, it is the job of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to determine whether the therapeutic benefits of the drug outweigh the inherent risk of side effects before makingit available to the public. If you become concerned about the potential health risks of a drug, contact your health care professional. The following tips can help patients make smart health care decisions: * Do not discontinue taking any prescribed medication because of lawyer-driven advertising. If you become concerned about the potential health risks of a drug, contact your health care professional. * Take all medications as prescribed by your doctor and monitor your body’s reaction to treatment. Work with your physician to determine the appropriateness of the medication. Your doctor is the medical expert who can determine the right medicine and dosage for your needs. * Keep in mind that FDA administers the most stringent drug approval process in the world. It carefully evaluatesall medicines based on rigorous standards of scientific testing and comprehensiveclinical trials.
