Pharmaceutical Medication: When is the Risk Appropriate?

17-Jan-2005

MyDNA Media, Inc. has published an editorial addressing the true health risk an individual experiences when taking a prescribed medication. Recent reports in the media have focused on the adverse drug reactions seen in some commonly prescribed medications for the treatment of arthritis. While these are important findings, the issue comes down to an evaluation of whether the benefits of the medication outweigh the potential harm. To make an informed decision, a discussion of individual risk versus relative risk is salient.

"In discussions of the risk of adverse drug reactions, the media typically only reports data relating to relative risk and omits information on individual risk. A cogent discussion of medications must always include both," commented Dr. Bill Rice, President and Chief Medical Officer of myDNA Media, Inc.

Relative risk is a comparative measure of outcomes in a population; individual risk is a measure of risk for a specific patient. In other words, relative risk addresses the effects, on average, for a large group of people while individual risk is the actual risk experienced by a single individual. There have been recent reports that some Cox-2 inhibitors used in the treatment of arthritis have an increased incidence of adverse cardiovascular events when compared to placebo: a reflection of relative risk.

Indeed, if the individual risk of an adverse drug reaction for a medication is 2%, a person may choose to accept this risk if the therapeutic benefits of the medication, in their mind, outweigh the small chance of an adverse reaction. This decision may override the realization that this same medication may have double the chance of adverse reaction as compared to another medication that has a 1% chance of unfavorable reactions. According to Dr. Rice, "These recent reports highlight the need for patients and their physicians to have access to timely information so that they can jointly decide on the best course of care."

https://www.chemeurope.com/en/news/42622/pharmaceutical-medication-when-is-the-risk-appropriate.html