Right to Know Side Effects?

The official website for the drug Olanzapine probably didn't mention the fact it might cause diabetic symptoms in patients. Another website obviously did. Commercials on TV now are required to mention possible side effects. Should drug companies be required to come clean about situations like the one with Eli Lilly's Olanzapine in their commercial websites? Why or why not?

I most definitely believe that drug companies should be required to come clean about situations like the one with Olanzapine in their commercial websites. Not even for the patient's sake but for legal issues. A patient who has not been told about the correct side effects and symptoms from a doctor or a high medical reference, such as a physicians assistant, about a drug they are going to take, the doctor or whoever is administering the drug could potentially be in danger of as big as a lawsuit. Not paying attention to certain side effects of drugs can have serious side effects, such as Olanzapine might be causing diabetic symptoms in patients. Now I'm not saying that for commercial websites that there should be a huge headline scrolling and blinking across the top of serious symptoms and side effects, but there should definitely be a section given about those. A consumer should know everything possible that is going into their body. And if the drug companies do not own up or tell everything they should, it will get leaked out onto the Internet or TV somehow. As Abelson said in "Blown to Bits", hearing of a "secret" side effect can be leaked very easily. Just takes a matter of time from person to person or person to websites to find out the true symptoms and side effects of a drug product. The drug companies should just take it upon themselves to disclose the information, rather than other websites and companies spreading the word. Bringing back up the legal issues, if someone were to find out these symptoms and side effects through some where or someone else besides the drug company, then that just easily brings up a law suit.

Therefore, the drug company should be required to come clean about situations like the one Olanzapine in their commercial websites. For their own company's sake, they should come clean. The information doesn't need to be broad casted nice and slowly, or have big red flashing lights, but it needs to be there for the patients sake of taking the drug. It's very easy to upload this information on the web, or attach a long information insert to the bottle of the drug. A drug company shouldn't question putting the symptoms and side effects on their drugs, it's for the sake of their consumer and their own company's legal issues.


References:

"Blown to Bits" Abelson