Abstract
The package insert of notandum, a narcotic drug, states that patients who take this drug must not drive a car, or should drive a car carefully. Many drugs used in supportive cancer chemotherapy and palliative therapy contain warnings regarding driving a car. Twenty-one of 127 outpatients in our hospital who received cancer chemotherapy were prescribed drugs that affect car driving. Sixteen patients drove a car on a daily basis. Although patients would receive a warning from their physician or pharmacist regarding driving when prescribed narcotic drugs, repeated warnings should be given, and driving status should be checked. Fourteen patients stated that refraining from driving was difficult. Therefore, pharmacists proposed prescribing drugs that do not affect driving to these patients. By changing their therapeutics to anti-emetics and supplementary analgesics, the patients could drive without worsening their condition. When selecting drugs, the necessity of driving should be checked to maintain quality-of-life. Nevertheless, as all patients who take opioid analgesics in palliative therapy must refrain from driving, and as opioid analgesics cannot be replaced with other drugs, it is necessary to check the validity of the descriptions in the package insert in future.
