AVOIDING INAPPROPRIATE PRESCRIPTIONS OR DISPENSING OF DRUGS

SECTION 1
AVOIDING INAPPROPRIATE PRESCRIPTIONS OR DISPENSING OF DRUGS
Dispensing antibiotics such as ampicillin, ampiclox, chlorophenicol, tetracycline, septrin, erythromycin, amoxicillin at inadequate doses to clients do no good to them and cause much harm to them. It is wrong practice. This poor exposure of germs to antibiotics leads to formation of resistance strains of such germs. When such a client has a real challenge to his life by such resistant strains the person can die as some of such germs cannot respond to any antibiotic.
Ampicillin, ampiclox, erythromycin, tetracycline and chloromphenicol should be given every 6 hours and treatment should last for at least 5 to 7 days. Amoxicillin can be given eight hourly.
Giving high caliber antibiotics like ceftriaxone (rocephine, Oframax) for minor respiratory infections or skin infections is wrong practice. This has led to development of resistant strains of many organisms. Many people have died who had severe infections for which such high caliber antibiotics were used for their treatment only to discover that they could not respond to them leaving the physicians very little options.
Polypharmacy is a situation in which several drugs are prescribed or given to a patient at the same time. Some complaints may require two or three drugs but some care givers can give up to seven to ten different drugs for that same complaint. This is poly-pharmacy and it is not good for the health of the patients.
Drugs go through a process of metabolism like food. They are swallowed into the stomach where some of them are broken down and get absorbed mostly from the small intestine into the blood stream from where they enter the liver and the kidneys
and are taken to all parts of the body. Some of them are excreted by the liver into the bile and passed out in combination with faeces. Some are excreted by the kidneys into the urine.
Excessive load of drugs can damage the liver and/or the kidneys. A lot of people are suffering from chronic liver diseases such as cirrhosis of the liver which are not caused by hepatitis B. This can be due to excessive assault on the liver by drugs that are toxic to the liver. Many people have died from such liver diseases for which no body knows the reason for them. Poly pharmacy can be the reason in view of the fact that many people hardly go to physicians for prescriptions and depend on over the counter drugs.
There is also an upsurge in the number of cases of kidney failures which are not due to infection or high blood pressure or diabetes mellitus.
Many health care providers give excessive amounts of drugs that can damage the kidneys to patients. Streptomycin injection, gentamicin injection and other drugs in the class of the amino glycosides are toxic to the kidneys and the ears and if taken for long periods can lead to kidney failure and/or deafness. These drugs should be the exclusive preserve of physicians who understand these therapeutic principles.
Some herbs or roots when taken in excessive amounts can damage the liver and/or the kidneys. Some can even cause injury to the urinary bladder leading to bloody urine. Dosages of herbs, roots or alternative medical, preparations should be standardized to avoid liver and/or kidney failure in people that take them.
Giving drugs meant for adults to children is wrong practice. Drugs like ciprofloxacin, tarivid should not be given to people less than 17 years of age. Some health care providers give children less than 10 years with diarrhea ciprofloxacin. That is wrong
practice. This can damage their livers. Tetracycline should not be given to children less than 8 years as it will discolour their teeth.
Children are better treated by paediatricians (Specialists in the care of children). Drugs especially in syrup or suspension form for very young children are given based on the weight of the child like in milligram/kilogram of body weight.
Drips used for very young children are different from the ones used for adults. Children should be properly examined before treatment.
Some children with pneumonia (a lung infection) can present symptoms that look like malaria or gastroenteritis (inflammation of the stomach and intestines presenting with diarrhea and vomiting). A lot of health care providers keep treating such children for malaria or abdominal problems while the conditions of such children deteriorate. It is wrong practice to keep treating a child for malaria when that child is not getting better. That child needs to be examined by doctors that treat children. Many children have lost their lives because of delays in getting properly examined and treated or over dosage of relevant drugs.
A child was receiving treatment in one clinic in a rural area for malaria. The child was one year old and had received 1 ml of chloroquine daily for two days. The child was already recovering when he was brought to the clinic on the third day for the last injection. Another nurse was on duty who gave 4ml of chloroquine instead of 1ml and the child died instantly.