An Investigation into the Current Management for Patients with Long-Term Withdrawal Periods from Drugs

We conducted a research survey on the management of patients with long-term withdrawal periods from drugs. The drug Didronel® was chosen as an example of a medicine with a withdrawal period. Questionnaires regarding the management of long-term withdrawal periods were given to both doctors and pharmacists. During the withdrawal period from Didronel®, the majority of the confirmation methods used by doctors were oral in nature. However, most of doctors considered a more ideal confirmation method to be the use of a medication diary. In the hospital, advice regarding Didronel® administration for the patients was mostly performed by doctors, followed by pharmacists and/or both. Many pharmacists gave an oral explanation of the withdrawal period, but only 13% used a medication diary. As a result, the persons responsible for managing the withdrawal period remained unclear. Moreover, a mere 3% of the hospitals provided information to outside pharmacies for discharged patient.