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How much is enough?
Author(s) -
Sicé Jean
Publication year - 1979
Publication title -
clinical pharmacology and therapeutics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.941
H-Index - 188
eISSN - 1532-6535
pISSN - 0009-9236
DOI - 10.1002/cpt1979265537
Subject(s) - statement (logic) , medical prescription , medicine , psychology , pharmacology , epistemology , philosophy
A distinguished clinician, when recently asked to elaborate on this quotation, offered some provocative comments. First, he said, this statement either has not received the attention that it deserves, or those who recognize its importance do not know what to do about it. Second, he added, improper dosages have probably become a far greater cause of error in therapy than is the prescription of inappropriate drugs. But in all fairness, he concluded, let us not forget that determining the dose required by a particular patient is more difficult than selecting the drug indicated in the treatment of his illness. After all, he remarked, we now have several authoritative compendia that list the drug or drugs known to be the most effective against all types of diseases. But few of these texts go beyond recommending ranges of doses which often are so wide that one does not know where to start and where to stop.