It is always disconcerting for a patient to learn from the media that the medicine he/she has been taking for sometime has been withdrawn from the market for safety reasons. Health alerts from drug regulating agencies are not directly accessible to patients, as most of these safety news releases do not lead to drug withdrawals.
There is, however, particular warnings that should be brought to the patient's immediate attention, since he/she is the most concerned. Patients are not usually happy with doctors and pharmacists when their drugs are suddenly withdrawn for safety reasons, after leaving the pharmacy the day before with that same prescription. The situation is a tense moment between the prescriber, the pharmacist, and the unfortunate patient.
There is a new group that has a fresh proposition to address this problem: Iguard. Iguard is the brainchild of a physician, Hugo Stephenson. The web site "iguard.org" monitors health safety releases from government drug agencies and drug companies sending alerts to patients by email. The patient goes to the site and registers the medicines that he or she is currently taking, along with his/her medical condition. Users can access on a very simple color coded system the safety level of his/her drug at any particular time. The color green is the most comfortable safety level : "suitable for widespread use", with the color red being the most concerned level: "requires careful consideration of risk versus benefit".
There is an option that allows the patient's doctor to be alerted as well. The physician does not have to face angry patients taking potentially withdrawable drugs such, as with the orange level 4, that advises patients to " create a risk reduction plan with their doctors". This system allows the patient to be more proactive about the safety level of his meds, and be able to address beforehand those concerns with both physician and pharmacist.
A patient should always remember that drugs are not perfect weapons against their diseases. The more they stay informed regarding their therapies the more they will be able to reach the best decisions with their doctors concerning their drugs.
