Recently I received an inquiry from a doctor who was seeking advice about the prescribing information (“PI”) for an oral drug that one of his patients was taking. The specific drug was vardenafil, and the patient was taking it for pulmonary hypertension (“PH”). I have previously written about the importance of reading the prescribing information for medication (here and here), and this situation reinforced my belief that reading the prescribing information is essential for a family medicine physician. There are several reasons why every physician should know how to read and understand the prescribing information for vardenafil, but here are the top five reasons why every physician should know how to interpret the vardenafil PI.
Reason #1: To Know How To Read The Prescribing Information
The first and most important reason why every physician should know how to read the prescribing information for vardenafil is because it’s quite complex and can be easily misinterpreted without proper training. The way the information is presented and organized in the PI is quite sophisticated, and a lot of patients and physicians seem to have trouble understanding it correctly. Even for expert physicians, understanding all the information in the PI can be challenging, and sometimes it can be hard to remember all the details once you’ve gone through it a few times.
Reason #2: To Know How To Use The Prescribing Information
The second reason why every physician should know how to read the vardenafil PI is because it is quite extensive and includes a lot of information that a physician would need to know in order to prescribe the medication correctly. One of the things that I found quite helpful was the How to Use section of the vardenafil PI which provided me with a quick overview of what the drug was and how it was supposed to be used. Knowing the proper way to use a medication can be quite beneficial, and in some cases it can even save lives. Unfortunately, there are other medications that patients are likely to be prescribed that have a narrow therapeutic index which makes them dangerous to use incorrectly.
Reason #3: To Identify Common Side Effects
The third reason why every physician should know how to read the vardenafil PI is that it lists a number of common side effects that the patient might experience. As family physicians, it’s important for us to know the most common side effects of a medication before we prescribe it for one of our patients, especially since many patients are becoming more and more reliant on online resources for health information. Knowing the side effects of a drug can also help a physician identify appropriate treatment options and work through any drug interactions that might occur.
Reason #4: To Identify Long-Term Side Effects
The fourth reason why every physician should know how to read the vardenafil PI is that it lists a number of long-term side effects that the patient might experience. The list of side effects is quite extensive and includes things like increased heart rate, decreased heart rate, liver toxicity, and renal toxicity. Knowing the long-term side effects of a medication can be quite important when deciding whether or not to prescribe it for a patient, especially if the medication is going to be used for a long time.
Reason #5: To Identify How Others Should Treat The Patient
The fifth and final reason why every physician should know how to read the vardenafil PI is that it lists how others should treat the patient. Sometimes it can be quite difficult for physicians to decide how to treat their patients since there are often not exact instructions on whether or not certain treatments are preferable to others. By having access to this information, physicians can have a much better idea of what treatments would be suitable for their patients and can help to make the right choice for them when it comes to medical treatment options.
Interpreting The Prescribing Information For Vardenafil
Now that you know the top five reasons why every physician should know how to read the vardenafil PI, let’s take a look at how to interpret it correctly. First off, you’ll want to read the Medication Guide which provides you with important information about the drug including its side effects and interactions. It is important to understand the side effects of a medication before you start using it, and the Medication Guide for vardenafil provides you with important information about the drug including its serious side effects. Medication Guides are quite helpful and can dramatically improve your overall understanding of a drug, and in some cases they can even save your life. They can also provide you with information about the safest and most effective ways to use a medication which can be quite valuable. Since online resources can be quite unreliable, it’s important to read the Medication Guide in its entirety before continuing on with the vardenafil PI.
The next step is to familiarize yourself with the other medications that the patient is currently taking. This can be quite challenging since vardenafil is a relatively new drug and may interact with other medications that the patient is taking. It is well known that most medications have side effects, but by having knowledge about what those side effects might be you can work through them effectively. Familiarizing yourself with the other medications that the patient is taking can also be quite helpful when it comes to choosing the right treatment option for them since it can help to reduce the number of medications that they have to take. It’s important to keep in mind though that sometimes a medication might need to be stopped or changed if there are severe interactions with other medications or if the patient experiences an adverse reaction to it. For this reason, it’s always best to ensure that a medication’s interactions and side effects are discussed with the patient so that they are aware of what might happen.
The next step is to go through the symptoms and signs of the disease (in this case, PH) as listed in the vardenafil PI and compare them to the patient’s symptoms. Remember, not all the symptoms listed in the PI will necessarily apply to the patient. It is quite possible that an exceptional case could exist where one symptom is greatly improved but another is worsened by the medication. In these situations, it is best to choose the option that provides the most benefit to the patient while avoiding any dangerous side effects. If there is a conflict between the two, then it is usually better to choose the option providing less harm. For instance, if a patient experiences dizziness when taking vardenafil, then it might be better to lower the dose temporarily until the dizziness resolves or it becomes manageable. Another example would be if the patient experiences a rash in a certain area of the body, then it might be best to stop taking the medication and investigate whether or not an infection is causing the rash.
The last step is to go through each section of the vardenafil PI and look for evidence of what works best for the patient. This might be the case where there are studies or it might be based on the physicians’ experience with the drug in question. It’s quite possible that there is some type of combination of the two where the best results are obtained through a collaborative effort between clinicians and researchers. In some situations, it might be worth trying a medication that has not yet been approved by the FDA, but only under the recommendation of a physician experienced in the use of that medication.
Hopefully, this post gave you an idea of how to read the vardenafil PI and what you might find helpful in your practice. Remember though that this is a complex subject and takes some serious studying. If you’re looking for a one-stop-shop for all your medical information, then the best advice I can give you is to learn how to use the Medscape service since it is quite extensive and includes access to drugs, clinical trials, and more. With medicine being as complicated as it is today, it is essential to have all the information available at your fingertips, and the Medscape service is the best choice for most physicians as it provides them with quick access to all the information they might need.