Is It Wise To Discuss All Treatment Options With Doctors?

Using novel medicines may bring additional benefits but for the price of slightly higher risk. Nonetheless, it never hurts to ask your doctor about all available options. Transition of drugs from clinical trials to general use in clinics and hospitals is rarely smooth, and there is certain degree of inertia in medical circles when it comes to introducing new drugs.

Doctors and patients may have different views on the treatment decisions

From the marketing point of view, drugs are rather interesting products. The end user typically does not have a say in the choice of medicine. When you buy a box of cereals in the shop, you choose a particular box of flakes that you want, pay for it and consume it. When it comes to drugs, the choice is done by doctor, and payment often comes from a health insurance. Your only role is to take your pills with a glass of water. If your health insurance or a national health service in your country doesn’t pay for a particular drug, this usually means that you have no access to it, even if the drug is good and effective.

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There were several recent lawsuits filed by breast cancer patients who thought that they were unfairly denied a better drug for their conditions. Unfortunately, these patients didn’t realize that the drugs in question are suitable only to a small percentage of breast cancer patients with a specific genetic mutations in cancer cells. Also, quite a lot of lawsuits are filed each year with regards to the side effects of various drugs. Side effects are not completely predictable and can be more severe than anticipated.

With safety of patients in mind, medical practitioners might be cautious about drugs that are new and have just came to the market. Of course, they would consider prescribing these drugs to the patients. After all, all drugs pass numerous safety tests and clinical trials. But if you insist on giving you a newly introduced treatment, you have to keep in mind that it still remains a bit experimental and nobody can guarantee your complete safety.