Check suitability, minimise sue-ability!

BACKGROUND

Having chosen which drug to prescribe, the suitability of the medication needs to be checked before the prescription is written.

OBJECTIVE

This article discusses what checking for suitability means and how it differs from specific considerations that a patient may have.

DISCUSSION: A drug is unsuitable for a patient if it is very likely to cause a predictable adverse reaction, and its prescription, in the absence of extenuating circumstances, would be difficult to defend. A simple example is anaphylaxis to penicillins. It is important to distinguish between patients for whom certain drug therapy is unsuitable, and others who have specific considerations, where the drugs can still be prescribed, but where additional steps need to be undertaken either in prescribing or monitoring. Examples of each of these will be discussed.