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Dr. Mercola
August 30 2007
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Why Doctors Often Dismiss Drug Side Effects

Patients’ concerns about drug side effects are often shrugged off by their doctors, according to a survey of 650 patients who were taking cholesterol-lowering drugs known as statins.

Statins, such as Lipitor and Zocor, are common drugs with widely known side effects that include liver damage, muscle problems, memory and mood changes, and more. In the case of muscle problems, if the side effect is not recognized it can progress to a potentially fatal condition called rhabdomyolysis.

Nonetheless, patients who responded to the survey said that they had to initiate a discussion about side effects with their doctor, and when they did:
  • 47 percent said their doctors dismissed their muscle or cognitive problems, and said they were not statin-related
  • 51 percent with a type of nerve pain called peripheral neuropathy said their doctors denied a connection to the drugs
  • 32 percent said their doctors denied a connection between their symptoms and statins
  • 29 percent said their doctors "neither endorsed nor dismissed the possibility of symptom link to statins"
Rather than attributing the patients complaints to the drugs, many doctors instead blamed the “normal aging process” or denied the symptoms entirely. Aside from not addressing the health concern in the patient, this ignorance toward a potential adverse drug reaction (ADR) means that no “adverse event report” is being given to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Side effects are already underreported by 90 to 99 percent, according to one Harvard Medical School expert, and the FDA relies heavily on such reports to gauge a drug’s safety once it hits the market.

In short, the survey suggests that the FDA is missing out on a wealth of ADRs because doctors are not recognizing them in patients.

The study’s authors believe that statin-related side effects are not the only one’s being missed.

They suggest that many other drug side effects are also being ignored. The researchers speculated that doctors’ tendencies to ignore drug side effects may be due to the powerful ad campaigns touting medications’ benefits and downplaying side effects.

Drug Safety August 2007 30(8):669-675

Reuters August 28, 2007

Washington Post August 28, 2007


Dr. MercolaDr. Mercola's Comments:
I strongly agree with many of the posters on this article that doctors should not be made scapegoats to this unfortunate finding.  Most physicians are intelligent, well intentioned individuals who truly believe that they are dong the best they possibly can for their patients. They are clueless that they are merely pawns in the system that is spending tens of billions of dollars EVERY year to manipulate and deceive them into believing drugs and surgery are the best solution for chronic degenerative health conditions.

When you think about it for awhile it is not that much of a stretch since it certainly true for acute traumas, all they had to do was extend that view to degenerative diseases and when you have tens of billions to invest in purchasing the best marking minds on the planet, this is a relatively easy change to achieve. The results speak for themsevles, the drug companies have been fabuloulsy successful in capturing the minds of logic of most of the brightest and educated professionals our country has ever seen.

BUT, they have only done this temporarily.  The Internet will change all that. This site is helping to educate consumers and health professionals alike about the fraud and deception. So many physicians are deceived that they are not at all motivated to listen to their patients' concerns about the medications they’re taking. This is particularly tragic when you consider that prescription drugs result in more than 700,000 visits to the emergency room in the United States every year.

It is also a shame that doctors are so quick to interrupt their patients as it may be only have about 23 seconds to state your concerns before your doctor will interrupt you, which may at least partly explain why most patients had to initiate the drug side effects conversation, or not have it at all.

Physicians certainly do have some responsibility here, particularly in being familiar with, and open to, the fact that drugs often cause side effects (and sometimes strange ones at that).

Drug Companies Are Influencing Your Doctor

In the United States an estimated 80,000 drug company representatives, backed by more than $19 billion of industry's combined annual promotional budgets, are visiting doctors every day.

These visits are influencing your doctor, essentially biasing him or her in favor of drugs.

Drug companies do not stop there. They spend millions each year to influence Congress, and similar amounts to influence YOU (via TV commercials, magazine ads, and the like) to ask your doctor specifically for their drug, the way you might ask for a particular brand of food in the supermarket.

Only a very well-informed, open-minded physician will be able to withstand this brainwashing (that actually starts way back in medical school)!

What can you do?

You are making the first major step already; you’re getting informed about what’s really going on.

YOU now know that if you suspect a drug is causing you a side effect, you must be sure that your doctor does not dismiss it. If he or she refuses to acknowledge it, you must seek out another doctor who will. As many Vital Votes readers have also pointed out, you can make a difference by printing out informative articles from Mercola.com and elsewhere, and giving them to your doctor.

Doctors are only human, and many will be very receptive to the information contained in these pages.

As the Washington Post article points out, you can also report drug side effects to the FDA directly (regardless of whether or not your doctor does), and I urge you to do so if you’ve experienced any.

Finally, my advice for your health and wellness holds true in this circumstance as well; you can reduce your reliance on the fatally flawed medical system (and thereby your risks of drug side effects) by eating the right foods for your nutritional type, exercising, and relieving stress with a tool such as the Emotional Freedom Technique.

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Community Comments ( 52 )
 Comment on this Article
  
  
Swami Barmi
 [ Joined on 10/06 ] [ Posted on August 31, 2007 ]
19 Points        
   
 
Savvy User
I've been reading Dr. Mercola's site for years. I think we can all agree that it provides a valuable public service and it's beginning to upset the status quo, which becomes that way due to a "yes men"-like deference to authoritative proclamations. This blind adherence to authority is bad no matter where it resides, even here. Russ Bianchi is not above questioning and neither is Dr. Mercola. I'm sure Dr. Mercola understands that he is not beyond reproach and perhaps even appreciates being called on from time to time; it's an education for all of us.

This site reaches a lot of people with the ability to reach many more, potentially impacting the way healthcare is practiced. However, with the addition of the public forum, it may reach people in a different way, which can be both positive AND negative. Dr. Mercola readers who post here have a unique responsibility to present a credible face to his messages, lest casual readers and new readers alike be turned off to Dr. Mercola's message entirely. Keep in mind, many of the people coming here are new and may still be transitioning from the allopathic to the naturopathic healthcare model; unsupported claims or inflammatory rhetoric can and will turn some of these people off. To cite one example elsewhere of counterproductive posting:  the branding of the AMA as the "American Murderers Association" is outrageously inflammatory, which can lead potential readers to view DR. MERCOLA as a tin foil hatted conspiracy nut simply because of the company he keeps. The same goes with the posts I'm trying to get answers to. The answers I'm seeking are two-fold:

1. I want to see credible corroboration that drug companies are deliberately making their drugs addictive.

2. I want to see credible corroboration that the vehicle for this is the bulking agent.

They're shocking disclosures  that can be part of our arsenal against the drug companies, but not without further proof.
 [ Reply ]
Mercola
  
Dr. Mercola
 		[ Joined on 12/97 ]  [ Posted on August 31, 2007]
9 Points        
   
Master User
  Mercola
Thanks Swami, very well stated.
  
  
annapavlova42
 [ Joined on 02/07 ] [ Posted on August 29, 2007 ]
18 Points        
   
 
Savvy User
Instead of changing from one conventional doctor to another, people should leave the conventional world and move very quickly to alternative medicine.  That way, they do not have to be concerned about side affects, doctors that are drug pushers, cost,  and heartless physicians.  Naturopathic is the way to go, the only way.
 [ Reply ]
Mercola
  
Patty D
 		[ Joined on 06/07 ]  [ Posted on August 30, 2007]
13 Points        
   
Savvy User
  Mercola
Many, I'll even hazard to say most conventional medical doctors are NOT heartless.  They have been totally brainwashed, yes.  But in my years as a medical professional, I found many many doctors who were the epitome of compassion.  Big Pharm and the FDA are fully aware of what they are doing, but I think the physicians and other prescribers out there are blinded to it and most honesty believe they are doing the right thing.
Mercola
  
katieannpc
 		[ Joined on 02/07 ]  [ Posted on August 30, 2007]
5 Points        
   
Savvy User
  Mercola
I have to agree with Patty here - I do think most doctors believe they are doing the right thing, the unfortunate thing is that they think the pharmaceuticals are too - and that's the problem. I also agree with Anna that we should seek naturopathic medicine whenever possible - yet I know that can be very hard to find or be too far to travel and be too expensive.

The other thing we can do - which I am in the process of doing is to print as many articles as you can to give your doctor. I print from the original source (using the links provided) when ever I can - that way they can't say that it's just from one "radical" website. Hopefully the doctor my husband is seeing now will do his own research once he gets these articles.

Also - I am proud to say my husband is off statins! His numbers are still skewed - I dont' think that will ever go away, and his Dr. wanted to put him on statins - we said NO. It's very unfortunate just how uneducated these docs are about the drugs - they are only given one side of the story by the companies - it's up to us to make sure they see the other side too.
Mercola
  
Katee Roux
 		[ Joined on 07/07 ]  [ Posted on August 30, 2007]
10 Points        
   
Savvy User
  Mercola
I agree with both Patty & KatieAnn.  Most MDs (at least in primary care) aren't heartless, they are just ignorant of true healing.  They have been taught that medicine is the only thing that heals, & "medicine" to them is a chemical compound concocted in a laboratory by a drug company.  It is true, as Anna says, that a naturopath is the best option, but many folks don't have that option.  My tiny community doesn't have a single one.  However i work in a much larger city that has many options.  But unless you live near a large metro area, it isn't so easy to find.  Also, many folks don't have the money as most naturopaths are cash pay and insurance almost invariably doesn't cover this type of doc.  

The MD i just "fired" was a truly caring man.  But as time went on, he became more rigid in the system & talking to him didn't go anywhere.  The nurse practioner the office had for a while was crazy.  She totally lost it when reading my high cholesterol report.  "You HAVE to go on statins!" she said.  I told her i did not.  She told me i was a walking disaster & all kinds of bad things would happen.  She was actually wringing her hands.  At the time i was trying to get pregnant & challenged her to find a single drug i could be on & be pregnant.  She couldn't.   But i lowered those numbers thru diet ALONE once i learned the healthy way to eat.

I believe that any drug that causes birth defects should not be given to anyone.  If it interferes with fetal development, it is doing bad things in any body.  (Of course, these days i believe that 95% or more of the pharma drugs shouldn't be given to anyone.)
Mercola
  
Katee Roux
 		[ Joined on 07/07 ]  [ Posted on September 13, 2007]
       
   
Savvy User
  Mercola

Heather, i'm sorry this bothers you so much, but i've written this way for many years.  Began in high school as i agreed with my English teacher who practiced the same, that giving extra importance to the first person pronoun is arrogant.  Most other languages do not do so.  Hope you can overlook it.
  
  
MomShap
 [ Joined on 01/07 ] [ Posted on September 11, 2007 ]
11 Points        
   
 
Apprentice User

I'd like to have lunch with Swami and Russ. It would be fascinating. Where else can we be so free to discuss, agree, disagree, and learn? I feel my IQ go up each time I visit this site. Let's lighten up just a bit, so we don't create acid in our system with stress! Hugs all around? MomShap

 [ Reply ]
  
  
dempoolguy
 [ Joined on 03/07 ] [ Posted on August 31, 2007 ]
11 Points        
   
 
Apprentice User
Just curious - do they have a course in med school entitled "meds to give to counteract the meds given to counteract the meds given to counteract......"?
 [ Reply ]
Mercola
  
Reesacat
 		[ Joined on 01/07 ]  [ Posted on August 31, 2007]
4 Points        
   
Savvy User
  Mercola
Dempoolguy, don't give them any more ideas!  :))
  
  
Patty D
 [ Joined on 06/07 ] [ Posted on August 30, 2007 ]
11 Points        
   
 
Savvy User
I'm in a state of shock, but somehow must have gotten through to my doctor at VA.  I have to use Veteran's Administration because of finances.  I have been doing so much better and gotten off most of my meds, but lately, everything has stalled, including the weight loss.  My chiropractor has done tests that show I have a major major problem with molds and fungus and on Candida questionaire, I scored 461...where definite positive is 180.  So, he wanted me to take either BioClear (activated charcoal) or cholestyramine to bind with the toxins and help me get rid of them.  Because I can't afford the BioClear, and cholestyrmine would be free, I figured I'd call VA and ask. (Last week, she told me I was killing myself when I made the decision to stop Coumadin).  Today, she said sure, that won't hurt you and is giving it to me!!!  Score one for persistence.  I've been telling her about a lot of this natural healing, she is much less skeptical than she was in June.
 [ Reply ]
Mercola
  
Reesacat
 		[ Joined on 01/07 ]  [ Posted on August 30, 2007]
4 Points        
   
Savvy User
  Mercola
Yay! You go, girl!  I am so happy for you, Patty D!

Getting the yeast cleared up will help you feel so much better.
(I had one of those 600 scores, also.)

One of the books I read said that psyllium husks (fiber supplement) also helps bind, neutralize, and remove mycotoxins.  (The Fungus Link, Vol 3 by Doug A. Kaufman, page 142)
Mercola
  
Patty D
 		[ Joined on 06/07 ]  [ Posted on August 30, 2007]
3 Points        
   
Savvy User
  Mercola
Glad to hear about the psyillium....I've been taking that for about 6 weeks, initially because on intractable constipation, now just to make sure I get enough fiber. 
  
  
keepsondancing
 [ Joined on 03/07 ] [ Posted on August 29, 2007 ]
10 Points        
   
 
Moderator User
Conventional doctors seem to have a bad rep here, whether deserved or not. Remember, it's possible to shop around for a doc who shares your own philosophy. I had one of those, a terrific medic; when he retired, I got passed on to a much younger man but one who is equally open-minded. He encouraged me to go on statins because of my elevated cholesterol; I retorted that my level of cholesterol is normal, that cholesterol serves a purpose, and that statins treat only the symptom anyway. I brought him such a wealth of printouts - many from this site - that he finally broke down and confessed that the material I brought him had merit. He is open-minded and always willing to work with me on alternative approaches. These people are out there, and having a link with someone in the medical community can be helpful in locating them.
 [ Reply ]
Mercola
  
Katee Roux
 		[ Joined on 07/07 ]  [ Posted on August 30, 2007]
9 Points