WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO KNOW YOUR MEDICATION
It is essential to know what is in your medicine since it directly affects your health. Approximately 1.3 million people are injured annually in the United States following so-called "medication errors".
And this is dispite multiple safety nets (i.e electronic prescription, software check, pharmacist's check etc) that the US healthcare system has in place to prevent such medication error. In a poor country like Bangladesh where no such safety net exists and where doctors are too busy to explain your medication to you, the incidence of medication errors can be in tens of millions.
As a patient in Bangladesh, the final opportunity to prevent such medication error lies with you. So, be an active participant in ensuring medication safety. Do the following:1. Take the list of medications that your are taking every time you visit your doctor. Make sure each of your doctors are aware of medications that others have prescribed for you. Include non-prescription medications, vitamins and herbal supplements in the list as well.
2. Tell your doctor if you are allergic to penicillin or any other specific drug.
3. Tell your doctor if you are pregnant or trying to become pregnant.
4. Tell you doctor if you have kidney disease.
5. Tell your doctor if you have liver disease.
6. Ask your doctor to explain what is written on any prescription including the medication name and how often you should take it. Since most prescriptions in Bangladesh are poorly hand written it is important to verify the names while you are still at doctor's office.
7. Ask your doctor the purpose for the medication on the prescription. Knowing the purpose helps you and the pharmacist double check the prescription. Moreover, knowing the purpose of a medication increases patient compliance and better outcome for the doctors. If your doctor is too busy to provide you with this information, look it up in rxbd.info or similar websites.