The pharmaceutical industry has become a favorite “bad guy” among the public, media, and legislators. There is a perception that the many risks of medications is proof that the industry does not care about the safety of patients. Nonsense.
Here are the facts:
- There is no benefit experienced by humans that is not gained at the cost of some risk. Risk of obesity and food poisoning accompanies the benefit of eating food. We can all itemize the risks we hazard by driving, walking, or texting.
- Some level of risk accompanies every drug from which we hope to enjoy benefits.
- The only way to eliminate the risk of a medication is to avoid exposure (in other words, don’t take the medication … but of course, you will not get the potential benefit either).
Now, the pharmaceutical industry is not without blame. It complies with safety requirements, but it is not yet proactively leading benefit-risk understanding of the public.
Look, we all intuitively manage benefits and risks every day. So why do we believe benefit-risk management is detrimental to the market potential of products? Why do we shy away from embracing the risks of our medications? By embracing I mean characterizing the risks to the extent possible, communicating them enthusiastically, and advising how to manage them. Physicians gain confidence in using medications when they receive advice on how to manage risks (we have data on this – I’d be pleased to share with you). This is a win-win opportunity. Why wait?