Local consumers said Thursday they are less confident about the safety of popular over-the-counter medicines such as ibuprofen, after a Plymouth family whose daughter suffered a horrific reaction to Children’s Motrin was awarded a $63 million judgment against Johnson & Johnson.
“I’m scared of pills,” said Alexander Ruiz, 20, of Framingham. “Just because things are FDA approved, that doesn’t mean anything. Thank you very much; I’m going to get over my headache on my own.”
Comments
Really? Less confident! People are foolish to blindly accept prescription drugs of any kind from their physicians for themselves or for their children. Television bombards the public with drug advertising.
It is no secret that pharmaceutical companies are always courting physicians to prescribe their drugs, and the complacency of the primary physicians provides the drug salesman with an advantage.
I'd suggest it is important to understand this is an extraordinarily rare reaction that is in no way specific to Motrin or Motrin-related drugs, but is a possible consequence of using essentially any drug.
If there are pharmaceutical firm representatives and physicians who overprescribe, there is an equally willing population of patients who feel badly served if they do NOT receive prescriptions they don't need. Overprescription of antibiotics for viral illnesses is one manifestation of the problem.
It's the responsibility of both care providers and patients to work together towards the goal of preventing cases like this.