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Developing diseases for drugs to treat?
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Most clinical treatment follows a set pattern. A patient consults a healthcare professional, symptoms and signs are elicited, concerns are aired and shared, a diagnosis is made, treatment options are discussed and drug therapy is prescribed as and when indicated. Information to support the choice of drug is readily available from the British National Formulary, technical drug details are published in the Summary of Product Characteristics, and both publications describe the indications for each drug. Although we spend much time and effort analysing key aspects of drug safety, efficacy and cost-effectiveness, do we pay as much attention to the licensed indications for that drug? How …