That’s deadly

(Brian Dakss, writer for CBS News and editor/writer for NBC news, 08/06/2007, “Skipping Meds Courts Danger,” CBS News, , DA: 06/30/2024) jj-wh

But, the director of the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Dr. Carolyn Clancy, told CBS News there's an irony there: Very often, people who don't take the amount prescribed cut the medicine's effectiveness in treating the condition. But side effects are generally just as potent for the lesser dose as for the proper dose. So, you're hurting yourself both ways: less effectiveness, and equal side effects.

Of course, as Dr. Sandra Kweder of the Food and Drug Administration told CBS News, if you feel that any side effect is stronger or less tolerable than you expect, tell your doctor immediately. He or she might tell you to cut your dose. But it's not something you should do on your own.

Senay stressed that serious consequences can result from not taking medicines.

Clancy says the failure to take them leads to higher numbers of visits to the doctor, to more hospitalizations and nursing home admissions, to the need for more lab tests and, of course, in the most serious of cases, it can even lead to a patient's death.

Of course, Senay observed, the most troublesome situation is when a patient doesn't fill a prescription at all. And Clancy says up to-one third of patients fit that category. So, the doctor assumes they're taking their medication, but they're not. But even people who do fill prescriptions and try to stick to the prescribed schedule can face consequences if they miss doses too often.

And missing doses of some meds is worse than other, Senay points out. Experts tell us people taking blood thinners can trigger a stroke or heart attack by missing doses. People who need medications to maintain their heart rhythm can also experience serious problems if they don't maintain their schedule. And, in a totally different area, a woman who fails to take her birth control pill a couple of days in a row would be wise to start relying on other contraception methods for the rest of her cycle. She'd be unable to count on the pill anymore during that time.