MEDICAL SURFARI: BEWARE OF MIXING MEDS

Three years ago I edited "Mosby's Medical Surfari," a guide to exploring Internet and discovering top health care resources, and since that time the health information resources on the Internet have burgeoned.

The public has become hungry for information and the various medias have responded. Along the same lines, pharmaceutical industries have responded to people's growing interest in health, especially as it relates to self-treatment.

There has been a huge trend in the pharmaceutical industry switching from prescription medications to over-the-counter (OTC) products. In fact, there are now more than 100,000 OTC products and more than 600 OTC products that were formerly available only by prescription.

Ever since a pivotal meeting of major pharmaceutical suppliers in Geneva, Switzerland (to avoid United States anti-trust violations) approximately ten years ago the pharmaceutical industry has conspicuously directed advertising and marketing directly to the consumer. Likewise, many companies have offered on-line prescription and OTC medication services. Although these changes in the availability of pharmaceuticals have had some very positive effects, some very serious health problems have ensued resulting from this easy accessibility to pharmaceuticals.

About 4 billion health problems are treated annually and a little more than half of those are treated with OTC medications.

This accessibility has led to some risks for patients who are not attentive to the indications and contraindications for these various medications. In other words, some of the medications should not be used with other drugs. To further complicate this there is a huge herbal product industry (nearly $4 billion per year), that is minimally regulated by the FDA, selling "botanicals", "nutriceuticals" and "dietary supplements". Many of these preparations may adversely interact with other medications.

Unfortunately there are a litany of unscrupulous pharmacy sources that require nothing more than a request for medication and payment before it is provided.

We have all seen the ads in the classified section of newspapers and magazines for Viagra and Rogaine, etc. There are other disreputable sites that offer a "private on-line consultation with a clinician" who then writes the prescription rather than requiring a prescription from the patient's personal doctor.

Everyone cannot get a medical education, however, people who choose self-treatments need to know there are resources available to help them sort out these types of issues. Your family practitioner or local pharmacist are excellent resources to help you make these choices.

If you are in doubt about an on-line pharmacy source, do business with those that are certified by the National Association of Boards of Pharmacies (NABP).

WEB RESOURCES

www.fda.gov/oc/buyonline/default.htm This web site provided by the FDA is devoted to issues about buying prescription drugs online.

www.drugfacts.com This web site provides a fact and comparison guide to popular natural products as well as prescription drugs.

www.quackwatch.com This web site is designed to educate the public about health related frauds, myths, fads, and fallacies.