Question

• Who is ultimately responsible for shared prescribing decisions and why?

• What options do doctors have in responding to patients’ requests for particular medication?

Answer 1

1. Decisions about who take care after the initial diagnosis or assessment is based on the patient's self interest. The chosen doctor is responsible for the shared prescribing decisions on patient's health. Before assessing or prescribing any medications to the patient, the doctor must be self aware of the medicine, its side effects to the patient and also the health of the patient. Moreover, after prescribing adequate monitoring should be done to rule out any adverse effects and also the patient should be update with the guidance of the medicines and the management.

In addition to this, if the doctor is introducing new drugs to the patient, he should inform to the respected patient and also explain the prescribing new medications to him. The details of frequency of medications, its dosage plan, its route of administration must be explained. Also, an agreement should taken from the concerned patient.

In some cases, if the doctors are unaware of the treatment plan on patients, it is right to ask for a suggestion from experienced colleagues for the patient's continuing care. Why because, doctors are there to save the life of their concerned patients. So, it is there duty to give them the best treatment other than the out of pocket expenditure technique.

2. Prescribing drugs or treatment should be done only when the doctors are sure about the positive outcome on patient's health or when they have adequate knowledge on patient's health. These both satisfies the doctors treatment and also bring positive changes to the prognosis of the disease. On the other side, when patients are aware of that there are drugs available for them to cure, they ask for medications instead of just describing their symptoms. In such cases, the doctors should advice them about their side effects on their health due to prolonged use or they should refer for further investigations to confirm the disease. Prescribing based on their requests may deteriorate their health or end up with more complications.