My six point plan for improving the prescribing of psychotropic drugs
The British Medical Association is calling for a 24 hour, national helpline for people dependent on prescription drugs this is a great first step but we could and should do more..
This is my six point plan to improve the prescribing of psychoactive drugs, please share this if you agree.
- Provide better training and updated < for GPs on the benefits versus risks of psychotropic medications to allow patients to make an informed choice about treatment.
- When a psychoactive drug has been prescribed, a formal review meeting should be arranged at eight weeks, if the patient shows no improvement, the presumption should be that drug treatment stops unless there is compelling medical evidence to continue.
- Provide specific guidance on withdrawing from psychoactive medications to support GPs and assist them in having withdrawal discussions with their patients. Give pharmacists a greater role in supporting users with better information and guidance specifically for those withdrawing.
- Patient Information Leaflets (PILs) should be updated to include information on stopping your medication and how best to avoid withdrawal problems.
- Set up high quality, randomised controlled trials to provide evidence of the best way to withdraw from a particular drug.
- Trial and implement Tapering Strips to assist in safely withdrawing users from psychoactive medications.
- An online portal where users can get accurate information on stopping or reducing prescription medications with online chat access to health professionals (g.p/psychiatrist/pharmacologist).
- A forum for users seeking support, perhaps moderated by healthcare professionals.
- A dedicated user group that can use real experiences as a basis for future action/investigation.
- Make visible information on the long term risks of psychoactive drugs including publishing all available long term studies (e.g. )
- Keep a central database of drug withdrawal effects for reference and future study, allow reporting of withdrawal effects via the yellow card scheme.
- Dedicated helplines should be provided and funded by pharmaceutical companies for users of their products.