Editorial: NHS spends £100m a year on unnecessary drugs for indigestion
January 7, 2008 by asehley
BMJ 2008;336:2-3 (5 January).
Proton pump inhibitors have been a tremendous therapeutic advance and have transformed the lives of patients with previously intractable symptoms, say editorialists Ian Forgacs and Aathavan Loganayagam. But the drugs are being overused, and side effects - although rare - should not be overlooked.
Rapid Response by Dr Raymond C Seidler, GP, NSW, Australia:
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“Perhaps it would be salutary to consider how rare it is now to see patients with perforated ulcers or even serious gastric or duodenal ulceration.
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These were commonplace in my early days of general practice 25 years ago. The proton pump inhibitors as a class are effective.”
