With all the prescription drugs on the market today, keeping up with medications is challenging even for the most experienced physicians. For new doctors, it may be impossible.
According to new research out of England, physicians just entering practice today are being asked to know more about all these drugs at the same time they are receiving less education on the practice of prescribing. The reason: there are not enough pharmacologists and clinical pharmacologists to provide the teaching.
The solution, write the authors, is for medical schools in the country to partner with other prescribers who can impart their knowledge to students. They also call for a national prescription form and computerized prescribing systems and guidelines and believe doctors should be routinely assessed for their competency in prescribing medications.
"Evidence of poor prescribing in the UK is abundant," write the researchers. "Effective treatments, such as angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors for heart failure and statins for hyperlipidaemia, are often underprescribed. Prescription errors are common, especially when new doctors start work in hospitals." About 6.5 percent of hospital admissions are caused by adverse drug reactions which result in about a 0.15 percent mortality rate, report the researchers.
The authors emphasize prescribing problems are not confined to the England, citing a recent report from the Institutes of Medicine showing similar concerns in the United States.
Labels: No Prescription, Online Pharmacy, Prescription Drugs
# posted by Network @ 12:49 PM
