Overprescribed

The health ministry in the UK urges doctors to avoid putting patients on prescription medications for longer periods of time, unless the patient’s life would be endangered by denying medication. GPs in England encourage people to make lifestyle changes and to let their immune systems fight the illness.

Having spent more than half of my life in England, I find how patients are being dealt with in Pakistan to be quite dangerous. They are buried under expensive laboratory tests and are unnecessarily prescribed medicines for long periods without any consideration of their harmful effects. Our doctors need to equip themselves with the latest information and techniques and abandon outdated and unsafe practices.

Shahzad Lodhi

Rawalpindi