Notification Points to Consider
By Sheri Porter
AAFP Past President Richard Roberts, M.D., J.D., of Madison, Wis., offered the following suggestions for physicians grappling with patient notification about drug recalls:
This story first appeared in the March 2005 FP Report.
- If you notify one patient about a recalled medication, you should notify all patients on that medication.
- The best forms of notification allow interaction, as well as timeliness, documentation and privacy.
- The recommended modes of notification, in descending order, are in person, by telephone, by certified mail, by standard mail and by e-mail.
- The more dangerous the medication, the more rapidly the notification should be made.
