Drug Allergy Clinic

The Drug Allergy Clinic diagnoses and manages true allergic reactions to medications — distinguishing them from common side effects that are often mistaken for allergies. This matters in India because a wrongly-labelled "penicillin allergy" or "sulfa allergy" can permanently rule out first-line, low-cost antibiotics for a patient, forcing doctors toward more expensive or less effective alternatives for life.

Evaluation typically starts with a detailed history of the reaction, followed by skin prick testing or a supervised graded drug challenge, where the suspected medicine is reintroduced in tiny, increasing doses under medical observation. For patients who genuinely need a drug they're allergic to — for example, a cancer patient who needs a specific chemotherapy agent — the clinic can perform drug desensitization, a controlled process that temporarily allows the body to tolerate the medication.

Anyone with a rash, swelling, or breathing trouble after taking a new medicine, or anyone carrying an old, unconfirmed "allergic to X drug" label, should be evaluated here rather than simply avoiding the drug indefinitely.