Steve Simon wrote:
>>The big drug trials get all the attention, but there is a lot more to the practice of medicine than just prescribing drugs. I'm not a doctor, but I suspect that most of the things that you do to help your patients get better don't involve a pill.
Lest we underestimate the impact of prescribing or of drug trials:
"A prescribed medicine is the most frequent treatment provided for patients in the NHS. GPs in England issue more than 660 million prescriptions every year, and there are an estimated 200 million prescriptions in hospitals." - Lord Warner, foreword (page 3 of print version)
Building a safer NHS for patients: Improving Medication Safety
22/01/2004
http://www.dh.gov.uk/PublicationsAndStatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidanceArticle/fs/en?CONTENT_ID=4071443&chk=PH2sST
Would be interested (off-list) in related statistics from other nations...
Regards,
Michele
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Michele Hilton Boon
Information Scientist
National Prescribing Centre
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