Question

A) Explain why the following statement is a myth: Prescription drugs come from a doctor and a pharmacy, so they must be safe.

B) Explain why the following statement is a myth: It’s OK for me to use a prescription from the medicine cabinet that was prescribed for someone else in my family.

Answer 1

A) Prescription drugs are suggested based on the disease, the patient general condition, age, past medical history and many other factors.

They are safe when used in the way they were advised to be used. Even though almost every drug has some mild side effect, there are many conditions which make the prescription drugs extremely harmful with some serious side effects and can cause  even death.

Those conditions include administration of higher doses than prescribed, combining them with some other over the counter drugs, abusing them for recreational purposes, abusing recreational drugs and alcohol while still on medication etc.

Hence, this proves that just because prescription drugs come from a doctor and pharmacy it doesn’t mean they are safe.

B)This statement is again a myth because prescription given to a person is specific to that person.

Just because you happen to have the same ailment as the person with a prescription doesn’t mean it’s safe for you to use their medication.

Prescription is made based on the patient age, sex, general health condition, other chronic illnesses, previous medical history etc. So the choice of drugs and dosage are specific to the condition of that patient.

The dosage and drugs used for them may not be suitable for your condition and can cause adverse unwanted side effects.

Hence, it’s not ok for you to use the prescription from the medicine cabinet that was prescribed for someone else in the family.