Prescription Drug laws. Need help.

[Johnny]

What are the laws about what drugs can be prescribed at the same time. My dad went to a nurse practionioner the other day for a check up and blood work. The lady prescribed him a muscle relaxed and a painkiller. The labels on both bottles state not to take with the other one. Is that even legal? He has leg pain and they don't know what is causing it. Also his kidneys are starting to fail. I would t think either one of those pills should be prescribed to him.

Anyone that know I would appreciate some advice.

 

[redneckgearhead]

I don't think there are any laws against it. Just lawsuits.

 

[elwoodtrix]

take one drug at a time as prescribed... leg pain... try pain killers... doesn't help, try muscle relaxers.... but make sure to make time alloted for the relaxers to work.... 1 flexeril puts me down for days , where as Pain killers kind of amp me up, which isn't good if your hurt, some people react differently to meds.... I get amped, others get sleepy....be careful, use common sense... unless you wanna get hi,,,,,,lol

 

[SoonerDVM]

Well, it could be the NP was competent, knew that despite the warnings the two are safe to take together, is aware of your dad's kidneys issue and chose the drugs accordingly.

It's also possible the NP dropped the ball totally.

If you're really worried, call the office and tell them your concerns.

 

[HiredHand]

Speak to the pharmacist?

 

[Brandi]

You have to realize that the warnings are generalized. The prescriber can decide that in this case, at this dosage.....these medications are safe to be used together. Pain medication and muscle relaxers are prescribed often when the condition warrants it. If you were taking muscle relaxer "MR" and another doctor prescribed pain medication "PM" that warning is there for you to say "hmmm, I better check before taking these at the same time". If the doctor wrote you a prescription for both he or she has determined that it's safe to do so.

The warning labels are extremely broad to cover a lot of things at once so you have to take that into consideration. If you are worried, by all means, talk to the person who wrote the scripts and make sure it's ok. Mistakes do happen so it doesn't hurt to ask. I've been prescribed pain medication and muscle relaxers a few times pre and post surgery and after severe injuries so it's not a deadly mix by any means. Generally the danger is CNS or Central Nervous System depression (your body's "urge" to breathe slows or stops) but that danger is determined by your medical professional.

 

[VitruvianDoc]

Everyone above has pretty much made the point.

There are a lot of medications with a lot of side effects and adverse reactions. In the world of polypharmacy where you can go to 10 different docs and get 10 different prescriptions and get them filled at 10 different pharmacies there is a lot of potential for medication interaction and bad outcomes. The only way to counter this currently is to be "across-the-board" judiciously safe and label any possible interactions in order to trigger you the patient to seek further medical advice.

This is one reason why most primary care doctors will ask you to bring in all medications to your health maintenance appointments regardless of if they prescribed it.

 

[Okie4570]

My wife is a pharmacist, she says legal, and a common combination together. Both are cleared by the liver so the kidneys are not as much of a factor. Her main caution is that both have the potential for drowsiness and even more so when taken together. If drowziness is an issue, take MR just at bed time.

 

[tRidiot]

Both together prescribed all the time.

 

[EhlerDave]

Yes I take both together each day. A lot depends on other meds taken at the same time.