[Survey of medical practice: therapeutic applications and iatrogenic implications]

This survey sought to investigate and quantify the use of analgesics and the understanding of their therapeutic hazards. One hundred physicians from different fields and specialties practicing in São Paulo were queried as to the frequency of their use of these products and about their knowledge of the contraindications and the precautions to be taken, measured in percentages on the basis of information supplied by the producing laboratories themselves. The data were processed electronically, and the results bore out the immediate necessity of disseminating greater information on the side effects of these drugs among physicians, health authorities, and the general public.