An allergic reaction to an over the counter drug frequently used: possible pitfalls in everyday medicine]

This is a case study of a 76-year-old female patient, who was admitted to our ward with complaints of diarrhea, abdominal pain and weight loss of five kilograms over the past month. This case contains three topics of interest. Firstly, the problem with frequent use of commercial drug names making it difficult for patients and treating physicians to identify those drugs for what they are, and thus enabling possible side-effects. Secondly, a topic worthy of attention is the existence of many over the counter drugs, some of which, like salicylates, have many possible side-effects, which compel reliance on patients to intelligently use available over the counter drugs. As this case demonstrates, such reliance does not always prove to be appropriate. The third issue to be addressed is that pepto-bismuth subsalycilate contains a salycilate moiety. Manufacture's instructions call for abstinence from this drug with known allergy to aspirin. However, given the different capabilities of salycilates, and the relative safety attributed to this drug, the salycilate moiety in peptobismuth subsalycilate does not always receive sufficient attention by both patients and physicians.