Re: [india-drug] Patient Package Insert (13)

["Chetna Desai" <desai_ck@yahoo.com>]

Patient Package Insert (13)
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Dear All,

Some points to ponder before we decide to agree or disagree on this issue....
  1. How many patients actually read the PPI in detail  and more importantly decide to take medicines on their own based on the information  contained in PPI? Are there any statistics available on this?
A patient needs to be quite literate to use the information in PPI for making a decision to take the medicines on his own. 
  2.  How many prescribers and pharmacists use PPI as an authentic source of drug information? I am sure there will be many, especially for new molecules in the market. 
  3. If we weigh (1) against (2), we will certainly find PPI useful.
  4.  With the advent of internet and other means of information, a patient has many other options to obtain information on health and medicines (sometimes half baked). These could be worse culprits for self medication than the PPI.
  5.  The name Patient Package Insert can be rechristened as let's say Package Insert or Drug information leaflet, with a warning against self medication, to address some of the apprehensions about PPI.

Dr Chetna Desai
Department of Pharmacology
B. J. Medical College, Ahmedabad
Chetna Desai <desai_ck@yahoo.com>