Maureen Connor

People react to the news diffrently. Well, everyone has his own experiences, but also we tend to rely on what others tell us. So, if we think the of a “thing” benefits outweigh the costs, we are likely to engage in the activity or buy the “thing”. But we avoid or reject it, if we think we could lose out. That’s not always good, as if you avoid something, you don’t give yourself the opportunity to find out whether you actually lose. It’ s similar to a false alarm. On the other hand, most marketing is grounded on optimistic claims and often leaves you disappointed. And the experience gives you the chance to update your expectations. Except, that we all have our prejudices. The worse thing, we are likely to accept advice from people who confirm our point of view rather than from those who might challenge our beliefs. Thi si sall trust matters.

So what is our reaction when an “expert” tells us something? Psychologically , it depends on whether we think the person is biased or corrupt. If that’s the case, the fact the advice might be accurate and timely will make no difference. It will be ignored. Risk is all about uncertainty. It’s not something you can measure easily and the problem of how we react depends on how quickly the risk might come true. Try telling a cigarette smoker there’s a risk of cancer in twenty years time. It’s all about the pleasure now and the delusion you will do something about it before the risk gets more real.

A change in the labeling for Tramadol has just announced by the FDA. A letter has alos been sent to all doctors, advising a change to the way in which they write prescriptions. There were some reports that two people have died as a result of taking opioid painkillers. This is a delicate matter because the FDA will not say how many have died but, given past experience, we can assume the number is very small. The FDA tends to work on a precautionary basis and, if tens were dying, they would take the drug off the market. So why are these people dying? It comes down to overdoses – a tiny percentage of cases. It seems one or two people who were emotionally disturbed and depressed died when they took too much of the drug. Doctors are advised to highlight the drug interactions with Tramadol to all patients, especially those taking an antidepressant or tranquilizers.

FDA is actually less in the pocket of Big Pharma than under the last Administration. But the reality of the warning seems to really apply to a really small number of people apart from the million patients who take Tramadol regularly. While we would never suggest you ignore an FDA announcement, just be wise and consider a simple question. If the benefits of this painkiller are real to you, and the risks are only applicable to people wwith sserious mental aberrations, are you willing to change your response? We suspect the majprity of people won’t take much notice on the new label.

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