An argument could be made — and frequently has been made — that the off-label use of certain drugs in certain situations is a good thing.

And, indeed, prescribing drugs off-label (for uses not specifically approved by the Food and Drug Administration) is quite common. A study published in 2006 found that about 21 percent of all physician-prescribed medications in the United States were for off-label purposes.

But when it comes to off-label prescribing, I would expect at least two things from my doctor:

1) that I be told that the drug I’m receiving has not been specifically approved for my medical condition, and

2) that my doctor know this.

Amazingly, a new survey has found that a “substantial minority” — 41 percent — of physicians are unaware that one or more of the uses for which they’re prescribing certain drugs are off-label.

In fact, of the 1,199 physicians surveyed (599 primary care physicians and 600 psychiatrists), only half were able to correctly identify the FDA-approval status of the 22 drug-indication pairs (particular drugs prescribed for particular conditions) included in the survey. (The survey used psychiatric medications because they’re among those most often prescribed for off-label uses by psychiatrists and generalists alike.)

A couple of disquieting examples of findings from the survey (which was published online this month in the journal Pharmacoepidemiology and Drug Safety):

Yet 95 percent of the physicians surveyed reported — often wrongly, as it turned out — that they generally know the FDA-labeled indications of the medications they prescribe!

“These findings highlight a pressing need for more effective methods to inform physicians about the evidence base, or lack thereof, for drugs they prescribe off label,” concluded the survey's authors.

They also highlight the need for us patients to continually ask questions of our physicians.