You guys are all making really good points and I appreciate the discussion. I am old fashioned. To me, the person whose responsibility it is to teach us about risks and benefits of these meds is the prescriber. It's their duty. The problem for many of us, though, is that we have been at times so very sick that the immediate risks of not going ahead with a medication were probably much greater than any short-term risk we might incur. At least, that is my impression. The problem is, once we are stabilized (whatever that word means) and able to have real, actual, coherent conversations, there is rarely, if ever, a follow-up chat about these meds and what their long-term consequences may be. We can do much better on that, I believe.

At the end of the day, patients have a right to know what they are being asked to put in their bodies. If tardive dyskinesia is a potential issue, tell us now. If it's renal failure, we probably should know that, too. And so on. Just tell it like it is. We are not Tom Cruise from A Few Good Men. We can take it.