Who am I to stop taking my medication?

Who am I to stop taking my medication – 𝘢 𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘺.
When we as professionals want to stop medication, we often focus on the clinical reasoning: Risk of bleeding. Limited benefit. A burden.
All true — but not enough.

Patients need more than facts. They need support to engage in that decision. And some simply don’t feel it’s their place.

This is one of the key findings in our new qualitative study, part of the SERENITY consortium:
Some patients are willing and able to co-decide about stopping antithrombotics
Others defer to clinicians, feeling it’s not their role — especially near the end of life
The difference isn’t about education or attitude. It’s about context, trust, timing, framing.

Advance care planning isn’t just about what we do — but how we decide it. Together. Stopping medication starts with the patient.