I am offended by the way that humans are treated as though they don’t have the common sense to make a judgment call for themselves without a "higher up" making the "right" decision for them. People have the right to have a trusting relationship with their physicians.  This includes being very well informed about warnings of medications being prescribed to them. There is no trust left if they have to have this discussion with their physician AFTER they have already experienced the side effects that COULD HAVE been avoided.  There is no such thing as "too much information".   There would be far fewer law suits if physicians believed that people had the right to take their healthcare into their own hands.

I agree with Mr. Cochran’s suggestion in urging the Board to include a 5th provision under "18VAC85-20-24(A), Practitioner-patient communication," that would effectively state the following:

"5. Medications prescribed or administered for purposes other than those specifically approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) shall be considered experimental, and informed consent, as defined in § 32.1-162.16 of the Code of Virginia, shall be obtained from the patient. Pursuant to this provision, informed consent shall also include the disclosure of all notices of warnings, contraindications or adverse reactions that appear in the FDA approved package inserts related to the use of such medications, and such informed consent should be obtained prior to reasonably foreseeable circumstances during which the practitioner may intend to prescribe or administer such medications."

Your time and consideration is greatly appreciated!  Thank you for your work!

Alicia King