Doctors often warn patients about the potential adverse side effects of taking certain medications that they prescribe along with certain foods or beverages or prior to engaging in certain activities.
If doctors don’t do as they’ve supposed to, then a second line of defense against potential problems is supposed to rest in the hands of our pharmacists. They’re supposed to affix those brightly colored warning labels on our medicine bottles to warn of potential side effects and interactions.
You may think one of two things. First, you may not be aware that there’s anything wrong with combining alcoholic beverages with prescription drugs. Second, you may think that you’ll inevitably be told by your doctor or your pharmacists if there’s an issue.
In case you’re wondering how bad things can get if you mix prescription drugs with alcohol, it varies depending on the precise mix of both. Doctors who often treat patients who experience drug interactions note that patients can either experience amplified effects or have them inhibited depending on the exact mix and type of both the drug and alcoholic beverage they consume.
Take for example anti-anxiety medications. They tend to help work where they calm others down, but if taken with alcohol, they can stop a patient’s breathing. Then there are cold medications. Some of the ones that can make you drowsy can actually render a patient unconscious if combined with the consumption of alcoholic beverages.
Even herbal remedies mixed with alcohol can result in problems for the patient, causing them anything from dizziness to death.
You may be asking yourself what happens if your doctor or pharmacist fail to warn you of inherent dangers of mixing prescription drugs with alcohol or the manufacturer hasn’t yet told them or consumers about potential ill effects of doing so? If that occurs, then you may have a valid reason to file a defective drug or medical malpractice lawsuit.
After learning more about the circumstances surrounding your case, a Houston defective drugs attorney can advise you whether you may eligible to file suit in your own case.
