User:TigBitsMcgee

As a PharmD student, I take interest in properly relating drug mechanisms of action to their therapeutic effect -- with support from primary literature of Phase III clinical trials, etc. Medical professionals often get confused with select terms in pharmacy and incorrectly interpret a drug's pharmacological and toxicological effects when they stumble upon difficult terminology.

To give an example of this phenomenon, consider the terms immunosuppression and immunomodulation. An immunomodulatory drug modulates the immune system, and an immunosuppressive drug suppresses and reduces immune system activity. These definitions are intuitive; however, upon encountering drugs with "immunomodulatory" effects (such as dimethyl fumarate), many professionals do not fully take the immunosuppressive effects of a medication into account (given that the term "immunosuppression" raises more red flags than "immunomodulation"). Although not all immunomodulatory medications cause significant immunosuppression, it is still important to realize that the term "immunomodulatory medication" does not exclude the possibility that a given medication causes significant immunosuppressive effects.

Although the previous example was long-winded, it supports that people can misinterpret certain terms found in drug literature, especially terms accompanied with slight bias or connotation. When drug literature is incorrectly interpreted in an actual practice, it is intuitive to expect an increase in medical errors and adverse drug events in said practice. Although I expect medical professionals to use reliable primary and secondary resources other than Wikipedia, I aim to elucidate difficult concepts present in drug literature through the use of Wikipedia. I plan to author my edits towards the public, college students, and towards medical professionals as a whole who use Wikipedia as a supporting reference.