What Should Healthcare Providers Consider When Prescribing Drug Therapies?

Elizabeth Dodds-Ashley, PharmD, MHS, at the Department of Medicine at Duke University School of Medicine, discusses key points to consider when deciding what drug dosage to prescribe to a patient.

Interview Transcript (slightly modified for readability)

“I think [that] for front-line providers, [at] the time of writing [a] prescription, there are several important things to consider. What is the renal function or the liver function [of] the drug that we are giving to this patient? What is the best drug [for] this patient that is going to minimize toxicities (if that is possible)?

Also, [it is important] to be sure that we’re dosing [the drug] in a way that will maximize effectiveness. For some drugs that is giving more frequent doses [rather] than lumping a whole dose together once a day. For others, we can optimize [bacterial] killing by giving drugs less frequently in higher doses and giving [the patient] drug-free intervals to minimize [drug] toxicity.

Having an understanding of the drugs you use and how they work is the best way that we can [ensure] that patients are getting the right doses for all of their individual circumstances. There really is no ‘one size fits all’ antibiotic dose for our patients.”