Deprescription: The prescription metabolism

Deprescribing is a structured approach to drug discontinuation. An alternative suggested term is “prescription metabolism.” The major aim of deprescription is to purge the drug(s) considered unwanted in a given patient, especially in the elderly patients with multiple comorbidities or in those suffering from chronic disease. Like drug metabolism, prescription metabolism is a way of eliminating unwanted, troublesome, or cost-ineffective medications. The removal of such drugs has been found to decrease the incidence of adverse drug reactions and improves the rate of medication adherence, thereby reducing the economic burden on the patient as well as on the health care providers. Certain categories of drugs are to be tapered rather than abruptly stopped. Despite the availability of many tools to minimize drug therapy-related problems, there is little guidance for the process of deprescribing in general clinical practice. Various methods to reduce the risks of polypharmacy include patient education, physician education, and regulatory intervention. The suggested S and S approach (seek and screen, save and severe, sensitize and supervise) may be tried for deprescribing in general practice. More research on deprescribing is the need of the hour in almost all branches of clinical medicine which may pave the way for the betterment of health care.