A couple years ago I heard a story from my boyfriend, who is in pharmacy school and will graduate in May. He told me about a story of a woman who was taking oral contraceptives and was prescribed an antibiotic. She was not told that the antibiotic decreased the effectiveness of the oral contraceptive and she became pregnant. In the end the doctor had to pay for child support until the child turned 18.
It's kind of scary that the people who should know better, and be informing their patients of the possible side-effects are not doing so. Some may see this positively in that the woman got child support but what if the conditions had been more severe? There was a reason that this woman was on birth control...she didn't want, or wasn't ready, for a child.
This story had been playing around in my mind but it didn't really hit me until I was picking up an antibiotic last semester and the pharmacist said nothing about the effect that it could have on my OC. I even explicitly asked if there was anything that I had to worry about because I'm on an OC and he relied, no. Then I asked straight up if there would be an effect on my pill and the possibility of decreased effectiveness. Then he said, "oh, well yeah. Make sure you use backup," as though it should have been common sense.
The thing is, it is NOT common sense! There are plenty of women to whom I have repeted the story of the woman who got pregnant and they had no idea!
That is, more or less, the point of this post. If you are a woman or man who hears about a friend or family member who are taking antibiotics with OCs.
I hope this also makes you think twice before brushing off pharmacist's remarks about the drug you're taking, whatever it may be...it's for a reason. I know that some people can be a little annoyed by it but it's there to protect you and the pharmacist.
Here's a place to check out a similar story, it's a little too medical for me but you get the gist.
What do you think about this? Do you think that it's the doctor/pharmacist's fault if they do not explain the possible effects?
kAYLe!
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To a certain degree. Every prescription is dispensed with patient information. People should take some responsibility for themeselves as well.
ReplyDeleteAre you serious?! Wow! I had no idea. md has a point too though, but it's a good thing to be aware of.
ReplyDeleteI would by far say it is their fault. They went to school for this information, not everyone! People dont go into a health class and told that kind of stuff, were given the very generals of it in what would be safe to not have a baby and what would happen if you did. and the fact that you asked if it would effect anything and he still said no untill you pointed out exactly what you were worried about...only because you were already informed of this. its not a off the top of the head question
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