Rethinking the off-label prescription

The phenomenon of the off-label prescription has been an unofficially accepted reality in the healthcare industry for years. But supporters of evidence-based medicine continue to warn that in some cases, the use of prescription drugs for purposes other than that which they were originally approved by the FDA can be dangerous. In an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle, Dr. Jeffery Avorn of Harvard Medical School and the University of Arizona's Raymond Woosely note that many physicians write such prescriptions on the basis of evidence that just isn't there, relying on quickie studies or the word of pharma reps who are mostly focused on selling their products. They point to examples such Enkaid and Tambocor, both of which were popular in the 1980s but later shown by studies to cause more harm than good. Tellingly, both Avorn and Woosely argue that doctors should be allowed the flexibility to continue writing off-label prescriptions, saying there will always be cases in which good studies merit action.

- see this story from the San Francisco Chronicle