As president of Women in Progress, Inc., I have a strong interest in educating low-income women at an increased risk of developing HIV/AIDS. Many of these women in the Bronx have recently been released from prison and need someone to look out for them and their health.

Increasingly, I am concerned about an issue commonly called “therapeutic switching,” in which medicines that have been prescribed for a patient are switched with a less-expensive substitute. The problem lies in the switch, because the drug that the patient is switched to is not always an exact formulation of the original. Many times, the patient is not even alerted of the switch, and the doctor has not given permission.

This can have adverse effects on health, as some drugs may require different dosages to be taken more or less frequently. Some may cause different side effects or other complications. Remember – just because two drugs may treat one illness, doesn’t mean the drugs are interchangeable!

Sadly, this practice affects low-income and minority communities like African-Americans, because low-income patients cannot afford more expensive health plans. It is unfair that therapeutic switching disproportionately affects minorities, but that is the reality.

Let’s work to stop this practice, and demand that only a doctor can make the decisions for their patient.

Charlotte Sapp

Women in Progress