Skip to main content

Main menu

  • Home
  • Content
    • Current issue
    • Past issues
    • Early releases
    • Collections
    • Sections
    • Blog
    • Infographics & illustrations
    • Podcasts
    • COVID-19 articles
    • Obituary notices
  • Authors & Reviewers
    • Overview for authors
    • Submission guidelines
    • Submit a manuscript
    • Forms
    • Editorial process
    • Editorial policies
    • Peer review process
    • Publication fees
    • Reprint requests
    • Open access
    • Patient engagement
  • Physicians & Subscribers
    • Benefits for Canadian physicians
    • CPD Credits for CMA Members
    • Subscribe to CMAJ Print
    • Subscription prices
    • Obituary notices
  • Alerts
    • Email alerts
    • RSS
  • JAMC
    • À propos
    • Numéro en cours
    • Archives
    • Sections
    • Abonnement
    • Alertes
    • Trousse média 2023
    • Avis de décès
  • CMAJ JOURNALS
    • CMAJ Open
    • CJS
    • JAMC
    • JPN

User menu

Search

  • Advanced search
CMAJ
  • CMAJ JOURNALS
    • CMAJ Open
    • CJS
    • JAMC
    • JPN
CMAJ

Advanced Search

  • Home
  • Content
    • Current issue
    • Past issues
    • Early releases
    • Collections
    • Sections
    • Blog
    • Infographics & illustrations
    • Podcasts
    • COVID-19 articles
    • Obituary notices
  • Authors & Reviewers
    • Overview for authors
    • Submission guidelines
    • Submit a manuscript
    • Forms
    • Editorial process
    • Editorial policies
    • Peer review process
    • Publication fees
    • Reprint requests
    • Open access
    • Patient engagement
  • Physicians & Subscribers
    • Benefits for Canadian physicians
    • CPD Credits for CMA Members
    • Subscribe to CMAJ Print
    • Subscription prices
    • Obituary notices
  • Alerts
    • Email alerts
    • RSS
  • JAMC
    • À propos
    • Numéro en cours
    • Archives
    • Sections
    • Abonnement
    • Alertes
    • Trousse média 2023
    • Avis de décès
  • Visit CMAJ on Facebook
  • Follow CMAJ on Twitter
  • Follow CMAJ on Instagram
  • Listen to CMAJ podcasts
Letters

Safe prescribing

Nadeem Bhanji
CMAJ January 02, 2007 176 (1) 66-66-a; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1503/cmaj.1060105
Nadeem Bhanji
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • Article
  • Responses
  • Metrics
  • PDF
Loading
  • © 2006 CMA Media Inc. or its licensors

Kaveh Shojania proposes several solutions to the pitfalls associated with illegible or hard-to-interpret prescriptions, including 2 suggestions of ways to prevent misinterpretation of written prescriptions.1 The first and best, according to the author, is to have physicians indicate both the generic and the brand names of a medication on the prescription, with the example “Zyrtec (cetirizine)” mentioned for illustration. Although this idea may appear logical and foolproof, it might lead to the dispensing of more expensive medications, since, on reading the prescription, the pharmacist may interpret it to mean that only the branded version of the product should be used.

The second proposed solution is to write the indication along with the product (as in “Zyrtec for rash”), but this approach, too, has drawbacks. What would the author have written if prescribing Zyprexa (olanzapine) for the dishevelled person described in case 1? I also wonder if the legal and ethical aspects of this suggestion have been reasonably examined. These concerns arise from my experience as a former pharmacist and a practising psychiatrist. With this background, I recognize that although physicians may take for granted the confidentiality of data on their prescribing habits (as collected by IMS and sold to pharmaceutical companies),2,3 this may not be the case. At present, disclosing too much information without adequate safeguards has the potential to create problems not easily anticipated by prescribing physicians.

Finally, the author suggests that electronic prescribing will prevent medication errors. I agree that it may aid in this arena, although the safeguards against legal and ethical issues are far from clear. Wouldn't it be a shame to see e-prescribing evolve into mass marketing, whereby prescribers are bombarded by email messages from competing pharmaceutical companies for each product that they prescribe?

REFERENCES

  1. 1.↵
    Shojania KG. Safe medication prescribing and monitoring in the outpatient setting. CMAJ 2006;174(9):1257-8.
    OpenUrlFREE Full Text
  2. 2.↵
    Zoutman DE, Ford BD, Bassili AR. A call for the regulation of prescription data mining. CMAJ 2000;163(9):1146-8.
    OpenUrlFREE Full Text
  3. 3.↵
    Whitney J. Pharmaceutical sales 101: inside information. Guernica [serial on Internet] 2006 Apr. Available: www.guernicamag.com/features/159/inside_information/ (accessed 2006 May 29).
PreviousNext
Back to top

In this issue

Canadian Medical Association Journal: 176 (1)
CMAJ
Vol. 176, Issue 1
2 Jan 2007
  • Table of Contents
  • Index by author
  • Canadian Adverse Reaction Newsletter (p 125-132)

Article tools

Respond to this article
Print
Download PDF
Article Alerts
To sign up for email alerts or to access your current email alerts, enter your email address below:
Email Article

Thank you for your interest in spreading the word on CMAJ.

NOTE: We only request your email address so that the person you are recommending the page to knows that you wanted them to see it, and that it is not junk mail. We do not capture any email address.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
Safe prescribing
(Your Name) has sent you a message from CMAJ
(Your Name) thought you would like to see the CMAJ web site.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Citation Tools
Safe prescribing
Nadeem Bhanji
CMAJ Jan 2007, 176 (1) 66-66-a; DOI: 10.1503/cmaj.1060105

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
‍ Request Permissions
Share
Safe prescribing
Nadeem Bhanji
CMAJ Jan 2007, 176 (1) 66-66-a; DOI: 10.1503/cmaj.1060105
Digg logo Reddit logo Twitter logo Facebook logo Google logo Mendeley logo
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like

Jump to section

  • Article
    • REFERENCES
  • Responses
  • Metrics
  • PDF

Related Articles

  • No related articles found.
  • PubMed
  • Google Scholar

Cited By...

  • No citing articles found.
  • Google Scholar

More in this TOC Section

  • The 5 Ps need an update: toward a comprehensive sexual history
  • Don’t ignore perimenopause
  • Hospital-at-home programs in Canada: challenges and pitfalls
Show more Letters

Similar Articles

 

View Latest Classified Ads

Content

  • Current issue
  • Past issues
  • Collections
  • Sections
  • Blog
  • Podcasts
  • Alerts
  • RSS
  • Early releases

Information for

  • Advertisers
  • Authors
  • Reviewers
  • CMA Members
  • CPD credits
  • Media
  • Reprint requests
  • Subscribers

About

  • General Information
  • Journal staff
  • Editorial Board
  • Advisory Panels
  • Governance Council
  • Journal Oversight
  • Careers
  • Contact
  • Copyright and Permissions
CMAJ Group

Copyright 2023, CMA Impact Inc. or its licensors. All rights reserved. ISSN 1488-2329 (e) 0820-3946 (p)

All editorial matter in CMAJ represents the opinions of the authors and not necessarily those of the Canadian Medical Association or its subsidiaries.

To receive any of these resources in an accessible format, please contact us at CMAJ Group, 500-1410 Blair Towers Place, Ottawa ON, K1J 9B9; p: 1-888-855-2555; e: [email protected]

CMA Civility, Accessibility, Privacy

 

Powered by HighWire