Don't be yet another victim of your doctor's ignorance

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Don't be yet another victim of your doctor's ignorance

Fri, 21 Jul 2006 21:14:02 +0100

 

 

 

 

 

WHAT DOCTORS DON'T TELL YOU E-news broadcast - 22 July 2006

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Don't be yet another victim of your doctor's ignorance

 

 

 

They know next to nothing about the powerful drugs they prescribe for

you, leading medical experts admit

 

 

 

 

Doctors know so little about the drugs that they are prescribing that

their ignorance is harming – and sometimes killing – their patients,

leading pharmacologists have said this week.

 

 

 

They are no longer being taught the basics about drugs and how they

work – and so instead they have to be led by drug salesmen, who make

great claims for their drugs while underplaying the dangers.

 

 

 

It's something that leading health journal What Doctors Don't Tell You

has known for years – and that's why it arms its readers with hard

scientific evidence about the safety and effectiveness of drugs.

 

 

 

It's an alarming situation that is worrying medical students, who have

privately expressed their concerns about their lack of prescribing

knowledge, says Prof David Webb, professor of therapeutics and

pharmacology at the University of Edinburgh.

 

" Patients are becoming ill and some are dying as a result of poor

prescribing. There is no doubt about that. A substantial proportion

of that is undoubtedly avoidable, " he said.

 

 

 

The level of doctors' drug knowledge is especially worrying at a time

when drug company hype and influence has reached fever pitch, and when

drugs have become more complex, and dangerous, too.

 

 

 

Even on conservative estimates, 1 out of every 16 hospital admissions

is caused by an adverse reaction to a drug. Once there, up to 10 per

cent of those will suffer another adverse drug reaction while in the

care of a hospital doctor.

 

 

 

It's a scandal – but it doesn't have to happen to you or your family.

 

 

 

It's all the fault of the training hospitals, which are no longer

teaching basic pharmacology and prescribing. " The competence of young

doctors in prescribing is a very serious problem, " says Prof Sir

Michael Rawlins, chairman of the UK medical standards group, National

Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE).

 

 

 

Ultimately, the blame lies with the General Medical Council, he says,

which has changed the emphasis of doctor training to 'problem solving'

rather than learning the basics.

 

 

 

The GMC issued its new teaching edict around 16 years ago, around the

time when drug companies were coming up with more complex medications.

The problem has been exacerbated more recently by the UK government's

obsession with performance targets.

 

 

 

As a result, many clinical pharmacology departments had closed down,

and there are just 68 specialists who practise clinical pharmacology

and therapeutics in Britain, a fall of 24 per cent over the last 10

years. Of those that are left, half will retire in the next 10 years,

and are unlikely to be replaced.

 

 

How you can make up for your doctor's ignorance

 

 

 

Even Prof Sir Michael Rawlins admits that you can no longer depend on

the knowledge of your doctor. He just doesn't know. But you can know

everything that's important to know about every major drug, every

major medical procedure – so you can make sensible decisions based on

scientific fact.

 

 

 

Your health is far too important to leave in the hands of doctors who

have never been taught the basic of pharmacology. Instead, take

action yourself, and find out all you need to know in our Medical

Error Insurance Pack. It's free to every new r who joins

with this offer. To claim your pack, and start your subscription,

click here . . . and don't forget to add it to your basket in order

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