Parents Force Doctors To Prescribe Medicines Even if Not Needed

A new research says that parents sometimes force doctors to prescribe a particular type of medication for their children even if they are told that drugs won't help.

The poll asked parents about their reactions if they are told that a child's excessive crying and spitting amounted to a diagnosis of gastroesophagal reflux disease (GERD) rather than not be given any specific disease label at all.

Interestingly, the research showed that the decision of the parents was mostly influenced by the physician's choice of words.

"The disease label seems to send the message that there is an illness that requires medical treatment," said lead author of the study, Laura Scherer, an assistant professor in the department of psychological sciences at the University of Missouri. "But, depending on the situation, medical treatments may be necessary, or not. In the case of GERD, an otherwise healthy infant probably will not benefit from medication. So in this case [that] label can be misleading."

However, Dr David Dunkin, an assistant professor of pediatrics in the division of pediatric gastroenterology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, said the findings of the study showed the relationship between doctor and parents. "It's the job of the physician to be a partner with the parent, and to give them the information that they need about the child's condition, but also about what the side effects, risks and benefits are of treatment," Dunkin said. "Because, in my case, I often see patients who have already been referred by a pediatrician, and already come in with the idea that their baby has reflux [GERD], without really having had the situation explained to them fully," he noted. "But while this conversation is happening it's very important that physicians be very careful about what they say and how they say it," Dunkin added.

Dunkin said that the doctors need to explain the terminology well to the parents to prevent any misunderstanding and to allow a thorough questioning to clear doubts. The decision to prescribe or not has to be made together rather than in isolation.

The research used the incidence of GERD because it is the most over-prescribe malady among children.  Parents who were not given the GERD terminology for their children only asked for drugs if the physician did not explain the ineffectiveness of drugs for the disease.