Draft:Therapeutic use
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A therapeutic use of a drug is one that is accepted to be medically appropriate. It is a situation where the drug is not being abused by the patient, and the physician is not treating the patient with an inappropriate drug, such as using a drug that is significantly more dangerous than other good choices, or using a drug that cannot prevent, cure, slow progression of, or even manage the symptoms of the condition that the patient is suffering from, unless there is some other compelling reasoning for using that medication. However, certain drugs may have a much more narrowly-defined therapeutic use than others, such as a drug that has dangerous interactions with very common medications or even foods. Such a drug would only be used when all other drugs in the category have failed, such as an monoamine oxidase inhibitor (MAOI), which is used when all other types of antidepressants (such as SSRIs, SNRIs, and tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs)) have failed, due to its numerous adverse interactions with various medications and even with foods. Other drugs with limited therapeutic use are dangerous because of their potential for addiction. For example, access to a powerful narcotic like morphine is tightly controlled, and the situations that its use is appropriate for are relatively rare when compared to an over-the-counter pain reliever, like aspirin or acetaminophen.
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