Off-Label Medicine: What You Need To Know.

Remember the most recent drug commercial you watched? The list of possible side-effects and complications probably included everything from diarrhea to death.

Believe it or not, all of those crazy ‘side-effects’ and increased risks are to be expected from the drug when properly prescribed for the purpose it was approved for. That’s called an “on-label” prescription.

A drug prescribed “on-label” means that it has been FDA approved to treat a specific condition. When a drug is prescribed “off-label” that means your doctor has chosen to prescribe the drug for a condition the FDA has not approved to be prescribed for. Off-label prescriptions do not have FDA approval for the condition they are being prescribed for and that often increases your risk of even greater side effects.

Why it Matters

Did you know over 9 million epidural steroid injections are given each year? That’s over 25,000 every day. What many people don’t know is the use of spinal injections for pain has never been FDA approved. As a matter of fact, you may be surprised to learn that nearly all medications prescribed by medical doctors are prescribed off-label at some point.

You might be asking: Is chiropractic care FDA approved? Nope, the FDA has not approved chiropractic care because chiropractic care is a natural form of hands-on care and not a food or drug. However, the majority of healthcare organizations, including the American Pain Society and American College of Physicians, all support the use of chiropractic as a safe and effective healthcare choice.

Next Steps

Part of being smart with your healthcare is weighing the risks and benefits. Thanks for being smart and sharing this post with the people you care about.

If you’re reading this, you probably already know that the results we get at Ascent Chiropractic are second to none. If you have friends or family who could benefit from what we do, we truly appreciate the trust you put in us! To make an appointment at Ascent Chiropractic, call 262-345-4166 or schedule an appointment with our online scheduling app.

Sources:
Spinal Manipulation Postepidural Injection for Lumbar and Cervical Radiculopathy: A Retrospective Case Series. Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics. September 2004. Volume 27. Number 7
Symptomatic MRI-Confirmed Lumbar Disk Herniation Patients: A Comparative Effectiveness Prospective Observational Study of 2 Age- and Sex-Matched Cohorts Treated with Either High-Velocity, Low Amplitude Spinal Manipulative Therapy or Imaging-Guided Lumbar Nerve Root Injections. Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics, 2013 May; 36(4):218-25
A Retrospective Analysis of Vertebral Body Fractures Following Epidural Steroid Injections. The Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery, Volume 95, Issue 11 (2013, Jun 05;95(11):961-964)