The Views of Indian Practitioners on Deprescribing

Excerpt

Deprescribing, “a structured approach to drug discontinuation”¹ is rapidly becoming a trend worldwide. Though the Western world has accepted and adopted this approach towards prudent and rational therapy, the concept continues to be controversial in developing countries. The decision to deprescribe any medicine is complicated by the dearth of risk-benefit data and risk of therapeutic failure or withdrawal symptoms. But deprescribing has proven to be a legitimate solution to the age-old challenges of non-adherence, polypharmacy, risk of adverse drug reactions (ADRs), and use of potentially inappropriate medications (PIMs). As the responsibility of prescribing and monitoring of drug therapy falls primarily on physicians, understanding their views on deprescribing is of utmost importance. Hopefully the decision is made after weighing both the risks and benefits of deprescribing. …