To take or not to take that is the question . (Do medication reviews have a place on dooyoo?)

Member Name: eiley123

Product:	Do medication reviews have a place on dooyoo?
Date:	07/02/07 (92 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Personal Opinions , Ordinary guys point of view .

Disadvantages: Personal Opinions , legal implications , misleading

Having just read someone’s review about whether or not medication should be on Dooyoo , I thought I’d just put my twopenneth in . So my personal opinion .

I think it could be good or bad depending what spirit the reviews are wriiten in . You can never assume that there would not be a malicious review . Alternatively there could be someone with a pecuniary interest . However medication is a consumer product , of sorts , when all's said and done .

Having a thyroid condition which requires daily medication for the rest of my life I would find it helpful to read someones honest opinion of Thyroxine . When I was given radioactive Iodine to treat my condition , I knew there was a 99% chance I would end up taken the medication for life . I could have decided this treatment wasn’t the option for me , but when you are ill and something new is thrust upon you it’s not easy .

For me to have been able to read a cross section of patients experiences of the drug would have been really useful . The Specialists will always give a medical perspective but what about a layman’s viewpoint ? The day to day ups and downs are what you really want to know about .

Having read a few reviews on various contraceptive pills I can also see the negatives . Some medication reacts so differently from person to person that you cannot assume you would be the same . Plus if you are writing about the treatment before it has had time to work , or you are still ill , your judgement may be impaired .

It also depends on how good and genuine the reviewer is . Is the reviewer sufficiently aware of the facts that they will use the correct terminology . Obviously most people will not be medically trained and that should be a bonus . However it could make things very misleading . Does the person want to help someone and reassure and maybe prevent a problem , or do they want to confuse and scare someone . You never know with folk .

If such reviews became accepted as part of Dooyoo could there be any legal implications for Dooyoo or the reviewer . You wouldn’t want to be looking at a lawsuit would you .

The problem with most medication you take for the first time is you read the list of possible side effects contained in the packet and frighten yourself to death . You imagine you will get them all , whereas the likelihood is that you may get one if that . Another patient may be able to calm your fears .

Also you only discover the quirks of your medication with trial and error . I now know that Thyroxine and Iron tablets should not be taken together . The Iron can interfere with the bodies absorption of the Thyroxine . You should therefore take your Thyroxine at least two hours before the Iron . My chemist did not know that and I only found out through an old G.P , and it is right . A handy piece of advice then to a novice with this treatment .

On the down side also , imagine if a review of yours influenced someones choice of treatment and lead to their ill health or worse . Very scarey .

So to wind up my rambling debate I can see the positives in such reviews but unfortunately a few negatives . With responsible policing of the reviews it could make very useful reading and guidance . I’m not sure though whether the effort this would need would be worth all the trouble .

P.S - a members comment set me thinking again . A medication review would maybe give you a starting point to check out your treatment further , i.e giving you some facts , from a patients view , you might want to check out .

Thanks for reading my feelings
copyright Eiley

Summary: They could be a highly useful form of advice or a dangerous tool