Over-the-counter drugs "are the patient's responsibility"
By Celia Hall, Medical Editor
PATIENTS must take responsibility for their own health when they buy drugs from pharmacists, the Consumer's Association says today.
With more drugs becoming available without prescription and more manufacturers advertising directly to the public, consumers can no longer expect to "be nannied by the NHS", according to the latest issue of Which? Medicine.
"Medicines can be life-saving but their importance must not be overstated for the sake of sales," Rosalind Grant, author of the publication and a pharmacist, said yesterday.
Pharmaceutical companies are prevented by law from advertising prescription-only drugs directly to the public, but they can advertise drugs sold over the counter.
"Pharmaceutical companies must not encourage people to buy drugs they do not need," she said.
She called for better product information on prescription and non-prescription drugs.
"Clear, comprehensive and unbiased information is vital if consumers are going to be able to take any responsibility for their own drug choices. Consumers are vulnerable if they do not know what they are taking and why," Miss Grant said.
She says in the book, which describes 1,500 commonly-used drugs : "There is no such thing as a safe medicine. Almost all can cause unwanted effects."
Sometimes side-effects only appeared after trials when the drugs had been licensed and were being used by thousands of people.
She said that the number of people who died annually as a result of taking medicines was not known, but risks had to be put into perspective.
"There is no doubt that some medicines cause death and a serious amount of drug-induced disease and discomfort.
"But the overall reported risk of dying from a serious adverse drug reaction has remained at less than one in a million for most years since the 1960s."
