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Medication Allergy Testing

7/17/2013

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Allergies occur when the body has a harmful immune response from a protein that has been inhaled, eaten, drank or exposed to the body in a way that causes it to be sensitized and unable to tolerate the protein or otherwise called in this instance an allergen. When the body has a reaction, immunoglobulin or IgE proteins are released and that is what causes allergic reaction symptoms. This can also cause the white blood cells or T-lymphocytes and eosinophilis to increase because the body's is trying to rid itself of the allergy causing substance. The allergy causing culprit could be anything from food to animals or even soap, cologne or perfume. Sometimes, things are not that simple. As a child one may be allergic to seafood or different types of nuts. This probably occured as you ate them and then realized your body had a negative response to it. After surviving all of this you then changed your diet to add more junk food so that you could avoid not being able to breathe or swell up with bumps and hives, making you look like one scary creature. Food allergies sometimes are something a person can remedy by avoiding certain types of food so that allergic reactions do not occur.

Problem:

Although, a person can attempt to be allergy free by not eating certain foods; what happens when a person is prescribed a medication for: angina, high cholesterol, high blood pressure and congestive heart failure and it is found that they are allergic to the medication? If they continue the medication the high risk of allergic reaction and depending on the severity it can be life threatening. If the medication is stopped, the patient will have problems with their blood pressure being too high or they will begin to get chest pain. Had the physician known that the patient is allergic to some medications perhaps another one would have been used. But we need to ask ourselves, how many physicians offices take blood from the patient and then send it to a lab to determine if they they are allergic to Atorvastatin or Metoprolol? Probably not many. Although, testing for pollen, dust mites, nuts and underwater food is probably the norm. There seems to be no guideline that suggests a physician to test for medication reactions so that the physician can safely prescribe a medication to a patient knowing he or she will not be in distress eg. unable to breathe as a result of a medication the physician prescribed. There may not be any lab tests used by labs to check for allergic reactions to medications although there should be.

Because medications are cheaper as a result of them being made generically, there is a chance that those who took the brand name of a medication were fine up until they began the generic. If a pre-medication work-up or testing was provided, harmful instances of bad reactions along with a waste of money on medications your body will not tolerate could have been prevented. Medication allergy testing should be implemented or considered due to the increase of generic brands on the market, which puts the physician in a difficult situation of having to try and select from a myriad of medications that do the same thing but are also generic, in attempts to find one that the patient does not have an allergic reaction to. If none are available their insurance company may not pay  for the brand unless prior approval is obtained and sometimes the insurance company still will not provide the brand.

Medication allergy testing is a way to get approval from the insurance company for a brand medication if you are one of those who is highly sensitive to the ingredients in generic medications.
For example a patient was diagnosed with hypothyroidism. Prior to the advent of the generic brand, Synthroid became the medication of choice. Soon after taking the brand medication, the patient informed the physician that their insurance company will no longer pay for brand name medication. The physician then prescribed levothyroxine. The symptoms were horrific in that the medication caused difficulty breathing and irregular heart rate. The physician then, had to find a way to get the insurance company to pay for the brand name of Synthroid.  Hmmm, there were no medication coupons in the office.  Instead, the physician sought out medication (IgE) allergy testing and began to take blood, labs and test the patient for other allergic reactions to the various generic brands of medication. It was discovered that the patient had positive allergy results to several of the more common generic brands of medication, with regard to the (IgE test) for medication allergy testing. The physician then took the test information and informed the patients insurance company. The patient was then approved for the brand name medication of Synthroid.

When insurers exist like accidents waiting to happen- Medication (IgE) Allergy Testing provides the results you need, so you can be yourself again and get the brand name you want!





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