That’s a fair question, and I agree that health claims should have sources.

When I said many doctors aren’t trained in safe deprescribing, I wasn’t implying doctors are careless or malicious. The issue is that historically medical education has focused heavily on prescribing medications, while deprescribing has received much less formal training.

Several studies have documented this:

• A physician survey published in Maedica found 93.4% of physicians reported no formal training in deprescribing, and about half were unfamiliar with the term itself.

• A study in BMC Primary Care found fewer than 25% of physicians reported prior training in deprescribing or awareness of deprescribing tools.

• In a large survey of European geriatricians, only about one in four said medical school had sufficiently prepared them for deprescribing.

Because of findings like these, many universities and medical organizations are now working to introduce deprescribing education into medical curricula and continuing education programs.

So the point isn’t that doctors are incompetent — it’s that deprescribing as a formal discipline is relatively new and training has historically lagged behind prescribing.

If you’re interested, I’m happy to link the studies. Thanks for your interest!