Does caveat emptor (buyer beware) apply to medication prescribed by your doctor?

Question

A co-worker of mine went to Hawaii for vacation and got a serious sunburn on his feet, due to medication he was taking, which made him very sensitive to the sun. When he complained to his doctor, she told him that he should have researched his medication on the Internet - that it was buyer beware and she had no responsibility to tell him about the side effects of his medication. He had also told her that he was going to Hawaii and she said she didn't know he would be going out into the sun. He keeps her as his doctor because she is supposed to be “the best in her area of expertise” in the area.
Do you think the doctor has a responsibility to let her patient know about possible side-effects of medication that he/she prescribes? How much responsibility rests on the patient now that the Internet offers all of the world’s knowledge at our fingertips?

Answer 1

Maybe a complaint about this doctor would clear things up. The medical board would figure out if the doctor was right or wrong not to discuss possible side effects with the patient. I can actually see both sides of the argument.

For the patient: It could be dangerous. There could be side effects that would cause serious damage to the patient or create unsafe conditions. Also, assuming the patient should look up the side effects assumes that the patient has access to the internet or some other source of medical information and can understand the language that the description is written in. Medical descriptions often rely on their own mumbo-jumbo.

For the Doctor: It is not very practical for a doctor to know all of the possible side effects of a drug. There are hundreds of new drugs each year and each can possibly have many different side effects.

Actually, I see more argument in favor of the patient than in favor of the doctor. Expecting a doctor to explain side effects of a medication is a very small expectation. It probably would have taken the doctor 5 minutes. If the doctor did not know the side effects then the doctor should probably have looked them up before prescribing the drug. The doctor is being paid to look after the health of the patient. By not explaining side effects, the patient was injured.

I think that the patient should quiz the doctor anytime a new medication is prescribed. If the doctor refuses to discuss medications then I think a complaint is in order. If the doctor refuses to do this then he/she is a bad doctor.

Answer 2

That story tells me that your co-worker has a really bad doctor.

Yes, it is the patient's responsibility to find out what they're taking before taking it, BUT it's the doctor's responsibility to inform a client about what they are prescribing. Some doctors tell their clients all about a drug first, but most don't care enough to spend the time.... so most doctors just give a fact sheet about the drug (although some of those leave it to the pharmacy to give that sheet).

Truly, anyone should look into what they're taking before they take it and not just trust that the doctor has told them the important stuff... I just wish I had learned that easier than I did. My wife had a "less common" reaction to the birth control shot that caused her pain whenever she got excited. We both trusted the doctor that gave her the first shot (as she was a good doctor and spent more time with her clients than most doctors do), and it took over a year to find out what was causing the trouble because none of the other doctors we saw bothered to listen to us.

Answer 3

Caveat emptor applies to all of life.

Doctors are human. I research every medication I'm prescribed, before I take it if possible.

That said, I would find a doctor who takes the time to communicate. The doctor in your story appears to devote too little time to asking and answering the important questions.

And I would never return to a doctor who put the sole responsibility for knowing about side effects on me. That's crazy.

Answer 4

In Canada the pharmacists take the responsibility to tell the patient of the side effects of a drug.