Prescribing a drug

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Discussion

9mm

Original Poster:

3,128 posts

209 months

Friday 5th October 2012
quotequote all
An 80 year old relative has been prescribed a drug that NICE and the BNF say should not be prescribed to anyone over 65. Is there any other source that I can read that might explain this?

K77 CTR

1,608 posts

181 months

Friday 5th October 2012
quotequote all
Which drug are you referring to?

geeks

9,121 posts

138 months

Friday 5th October 2012
quotequote all
9mm said:
An 80 year old relative has been prescribed a drug that NICE and the BNF say should not be prescribed to anyone over 65. Is there any other source that I can read that might explain this?
The doctor who prescribed it...

turbolucie

3,473 posts

181 months

Friday 5th October 2012
quotequote all
Which drug? Drugs are prescribed off recommendation in lots of situations.

BlackVanDyke

9,932 posts

210 months

Sunday 7th October 2012
quotequote all
It's a massive context thing - you haven't given any.

There are nearly always exceptions for nearly everything, justifications for what I think Americans call 'off-label' use, a drug company might eg only have evidence to PROVE its safety in under-65s but that doesn't make it a worse idea than doing nothing if the alternative involves suffering or an avoidable death.

Talk to the doctor who prescribed it, you could also talk to the pharmacist, they know stuff about drugs. smile

9mm

Original Poster:

3,128 posts

209 months

Wednesday 10th October 2012
quotequote all
geeks said:
The doctor who prescribed it...
They won't respond to the question. That's fine - there'll be a complaint idc.

9mm

Original Poster:

3,128 posts

209 months

Wednesday 10th October 2012
quotequote all
turbolucie said:
Which drug? Drugs are prescribed off recommendation in lots of situations.
Could you give me just two or three examples please?

9mm

Original Poster:

3,128 posts

209 months

Wednesday 10th October 2012
quotequote all
K77 CTR said:
Which drug are you referring to?
No need to name it at this stage. I'd simply like to know where a doctor gets the guidance for prescribing a drug. I know about NICE and the BNF.

Is there another resource?

oldbanger

4,316 posts

237 months

Wednesday 10th October 2012
quotequote all
9mm said:
Could you give me just two or three examples please?
Metformin is one such example

ETA All the doctor has to do is follow the Bolam Principle and they can prescribe against NICE guidelines without fear of major repercussions. If they can show sound reasoning, I'd say they'd have a case even if they weren't following a fairly common practice.


Edited by oldbanger on Wednesday 10th October 23:00

BlackVanDyke

9,932 posts

210 months

Wednesday 10th October 2012
quotequote all
oldbanger said:
9mm said:
Could you give me just two or three examples please?
metformin is one such example
Pregabalin has had pretty impressive 'usage creep' as its applications in different fields are discovered.

Wikipedia article on off-label use here. That's the phrase you want to Google for to find more info, too.

turbolucie

3,473 posts

181 months

Thursday 11th October 2012
quotequote all
9mm said:
Could you give me just two or three examples please?
See the article linked below on Wikipedia. That's not exhaustive, pain medication and psychiatric drugs in particular are often used off licence. Really does depend though, the drug may be being prescribed in error, best thing to do is ask.