Risk : Drug therapy versus adverse drug reaction. A case study approach with consumer, medical and expert views

Extracts of three case studies, from a larger qualitative study, are used to illustrate an emerging theme about the issue of the risks versus the benefits of providing detailed information about adverse drug reactions (ADRs) to consumers. The case studies include the consumer, medical and expert views of a single event, a suspected adverse drug reaction. The consumers would like more information. The doctors expressed that providing information about all possible ADRs can result in some consumers choosing not to take medications due to the perceived risk of the medication. The ADR experts stated that providing ADR information to the consumers within the presented case studies, might have assisted in earlier detection of the ADR, resulting in a less severe reaction. This paper aims to illustrate this emerging theme of the risks versus the benefits of providing consumers with information about potential ADRs and suggest some ways of increasing the benefits and minimizing the risk. We then indicate how these finding may inform future development of ADR decision support systems.E