The human body’s mortality is inevitable. While it has a defence mechanism to protect itself against disease, it’s not always adequate. Its strength depends on an individual’s lifestyle and environment. Hence, people can become ill due to pollutants, ageing, or heredity.
On the other hand, a healthy diet can increase resistance and speed up recovery from sickness. Even so, it won’t be enough once a person gets a severe disease. Health professionals developed different responses to illnesses after years of study and research and how to prevent them. One of which is providing a prescription.
A prescription is a physician’s document to authorize medical treatment or drug consumption. You can get drug supplies from a hospital or drugstore branches like Wizard Pharmacy after giving your doctor’s valid prescription.
What Are Drugs?
Drugs are chemical substances that cause change to an organism’s cognitive, physical, or behavioural status upon consumption. Consuming a drug and its effects may depend on its type. It includes the following:
- Preventive Drugs
These are medicines that increase one’s resistance to disease. Preventive drugs support the body by creating antibodies or immunoglobulin to counter antigens. It can also enhance the body’s white blood cells. One good example of a preventive drug is a vaccine.
- Psychoactive Drugs
These are chemical substances that modify an organism’s consciousness to encourage positive feelings. Doctors prescribe these drugs for people diagnosed with mental illnesses.
What Is A Defective Drug?
A defective drug is a medicine bought from a hospital or pharmacy that can cause adverse effects when consumed. In addition, it can worsen a patient’s medical condition instead of improving it. Worse, it can lead to death.
There are three types of drug defects:
- Manufacturing Defects: The drug manufacturer made the drug improperly. Improper manufacturing can contaminate it and cause harm once consumed.
- Side Effect Defects: The manufacturer made the medicine correctly. However, the drug’s side effects pose risks once consumed.
- Warning Defects: The drug packaging doesn’t give patients proper instructions and warnings.
How To Recognize A Defective Drug?
You can recognize if the drug you bought is defective by checking out these factors:
Look For The Drug Seal
The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Australia’s Department of Health and Aged Care coordinate to ensure their citizens get quality medical products and consumables, including drugs. They conduct a series of tests to determine whether these products are qualified to be sold on the market.
Suppose the evaluation of a drug is done and it passed. In this case, an FDA seal will be placed on its packaging to guarantee it’s safe. Consider checking for an FDA seal from the drug you buy. If the seal is broken or missing, look for the medicine in a different store.
Check The Drug’s Expiration Date
According to research, storing a drug under optimal conditions can last for more than five years. However, it also depends on the type of drug and the efficacy it can retain after a long period. Over time, its potency will wane and become vulnerable to contamination and other changes.
Meanwhile, drugs consist of ingredients that don’t last forever. Once a drug expires, it can cause side effects dangerous to your health. Therefore, consider checking out the drug’s packaging for its expiration date to ensure it’s still consumable. If the drug is past its expiration date, don’t take it anymore.
Review The Ingredients
One can classify drugs as branded or generic. Branded drugs can be expensive because they’re the first of their kind. On the other hand, generic drugs are sold at a lower price. This is possible because manufacturers don’t have to spend much on medicine research, production, and marketing, given that they have the branded drug as a reference.
Generic drugs can help many because of their affordable price. Even so, they can also pose alarming side effects. Hence, the FDA requires generic manufacturers to have similar ingredients to branded medicine to ensure its efficacy. However, some manufacturers include inactive ingredients like preservatives. These inactive ingredients can cause allergies in the consumer.
Consider checking out the ingredients you bought from a pharmacy to see if you have an allergy to them. You can save more money by using more expensive medicines that have fewer adverse effects than generics.
Conclusion
Drugs are chemical substances that can prevent and cure illnesses. They can also enhance a person’s physical, mental, and behavioural condition. However, you must be cautious of consuming one. Defective drugs can pose serious risks to your health. Considering the tips in this article can keep you away from them.
