Too Much Drug Safety Information?

Today’s Wall Street Journal reports on whether the large amount of drug safety information available to the public could be harming consumers:

Too much information about drug safety — disseminated through media, online alerts from consumer watchdog groups and even by the Food and Drug Administration itself — might overwhelm patients and raise undue alarm, some medical professionals caution. Consumers may forget about the benefits of a medication if they focus only on risk. And the health consequences associated with stopping a medication, particularly for a chronic condition, may be far worse than the possibility of a side effect.

A Pfizer Inc. survey of 300 medical professionals in March found that 89% of respondents were at least somewhat concerned that patients might stop their medications if potentially negative safety information was released to the public too early.

– SBS