Your & Your Doctor: What I Wish My Patients Knew

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It’s important for people to take their medications as prescribed, but about a third of all patients don’t. And that’s a big problem—for a number of reasons. 

 

• If a doctor prescribes medication, it’s been shown to be beneficial.
So if you want to stay healthy, you need to take it as directed. Make sure you take the entire dosage—don’t skip any meds. The same is true for antibiotics. Take the full course; don’t stop because you feel better.

  

• Patients taking more than one drug do not always read the fine print that comes with certain medications, or discuss questions about drug interactions with their doctors or pharmacists. Lack of knowledge about interactions can result in ineffective use—or worse.  

 

• Remember: Medications treat chronic illness—they don’t cure it. If you’ve stopped or missed your meds, you’ve stopped or missed your treatment.  

 

—Michael Crawford, MD, Chief of Clinical Cardiology and Professor of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco.