Don't Share Prescriptions
Simply put, it's not OK. It's a bad idea, in fact. Sharing prescriptions is a practice that goes against recommendations for the safe use of medication. Prescriptions should only be used by the person whose name appears on the bottle.
Understand the Reasons Why
There are three main reasons why sharing prescriptions could be problematic:
Potential for Drug Interactions
Your prescription medication could possibly cause a drug interaction with something your friend or relative is already taking. Your medication may be incompatible with one or more of his drugs. Only a doctor or pharmacist are qualified to judge compatibility or incompatibility of drugs. Any patient who randomly decides to take a prescription drug that's not his own is gambling.
Dose May Be Wrong
When you are prescribed a drug, your doctor selects the strength of pill and dosing schedule that he thinks will work best for you -- considering your medical history and other drugs you currently take. Take Mobic for example. It comes in 7.5 and 15 mg strength. The 15 mg is taken once a day, while the 7.5 mg can be taken once or twice a day. Depending on the severity of your symptoms and potential for side effect, your doctor makes the choice. But that dose is not necessarily right for everyone who takes Mobic. Each individual patient must be evaluated by a doctor.
Allergic Reaction Is a Possibility
Drug allergies can affect anyone at anytime. Drug allergies are unpredictable immune system responses to a drug. Allergic drug reactions tend to get worse with repeated exposure to the drug and can range from mildly annoying reactions (for example, rash) to life-threatening allergic reactions (anaphylaxis).
Using someone else's prescription bypasses a safety net whereby doctors and pharmacists can predict allergic reactions to drugs based on a patient's history and previous response to drugs of a similar class, or to drugs with similar chemical structures.
Won't Necessarily Get Same Response
If you have had a positive response to a particular drug, human nature dictates that others will want to try the same thing. But individual patients vary in their response to treatment. Because no two patients are exactly alike -- not even those with the same diagnosis -- there can be no assurance that response can be duplicated.
Point to Remember
Play it safe. Don't touch anyone else's prescriptions nor allow anyone else to touch yours. If you have pain or other arthritis symptoms, see your doctor for a proper evaluation. Your doctor will recommend and prescribe a drug regimen that is most appropriate for you.
Source:
General Advice on Safe Medication Use. The Institute for Safe Medication Practices.
http://www.ismp.org/consumers/brochure.asp
