Take Two.. then Call Me in the Morning

Take Two.. then Call Me in the Morning

Remember that classic phrase, common at least when we were growing up? It was uttered by several doctors in the past when doctors made house calls. I wonder, what ever happened with that?

Pharmaceutical companies here in the U.S. are simultaneously praised and scorned, labeled as being greedy corporate monsters on one hand, while on the other hand being thanked for creating the medicine of the modern age to help us all deal with life’s regular aches, pains, and illnesses.

It’s a long, slow journey from the initial idea for a new medicine to the time we see it on our store shelves. In fact, as compared to some of our friends in Europe, in extreme cases it can take a decade or more before we see the most recent medicines become available to the public.

Now there is admittedly a kind of short-cut, if you will, to get a newly proposed drug in front of the FDA sooner rather than later. Commonly referred to as priority review, the FDA can, at its discretion, consider reviewing a new drug which is claimed to help people suffering with serious health conditions on a fast-track schedule.

The FDA likes to tout itself as having the world’s best system for evaluating proposed new medicines, especially under its CDER, aka Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. Through a whole litany of analysis and evaluation of proposed new drugs, the CDER aims to eliminate bad drugs, approve good ones, provide guidance to doctors and directions to consumers. FDA approval of new drugs is music to the ears of the pharmaceutical industry, the government’s “seal of approval” if you will.

Consumers obviously will also be happy to hear of new drugs with new promise now being on the market for whatever happens to ail you. The intermediary in this system, as we all know, is the physician, a key participant, the one who must prescribe the new drug in the first place.

Since we don’t live in a perfect world, side effects and risks of new drugs must also be evaluated and weighed during the overall review process. All consumer purchased drugs come with a list of the potential dangers that accompany their use. Anyone using a prescribed drug is familiar with the long list of potential downsides in doing so. One quick glance at the PDR (Physician’s Desk Reference) is all it takes to realize how imperfect the whole thing is when you see all the side effects listed of your favorite pharmaceuticals.

So, consider your doctor’s advice seriously when he tells you to “…take two and call me in the morning.”

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