* Whose responsibility?
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Doctors seem clearly at fault in not making it a practice to warn patients of the likely side-effects of prescribed medications. But even if they were able and willing to do this, there would remain a problem. For instance, one lorry driver admitted he'd been warned that his driving would be affected; but unless the doctor gives such a person a certificate to stay away from work he is in a difficult situation, isn't he? if he 'stays away without a certificate he loses pay; if he asks for a non-driving job he may suffer a drop in earnings, or lose his job permanently. He has a responsibility to the public, but if doctors cannot agree about the degree of danger from medical drugs, one can hardly expect a layman to make a reliable assessment.
Legally, he is "driving under the influence of drugs"—but no one is likely to prosecute; the problem of establishing that drugs have been taken is a tough one, from which the police shy away.
A UN body has recently suggested that the drug/driving situation today is like the state of affairs on drink/driving 40 years ago.
It is easy to say that the responsibility rests with each individual under treatment, but it is a common effect of drugs that they distort the patient's standards of judgment, especially about his personal abilities.