[How I treat....Recommendations for stopping a pharmacological therapy].

To interrupt a pharmacological treatment is sometimes warranted in clinical practice. It may appear as an easy task, simpler to undertake than the initiation of a new therapy, and, yet, it requires that some conditions be fulfilled and some precautions be taken: (1) the reasons why the medication is interrupted should be clearly explained; (2) the physician should make sure that the interruption, even if transient, is without danger; (3) the modalities of interruption should be clearly determined (immediate cessation vs progressive dose reduction), and, finally, (4) an appropriate follow-up of the duly informed patient should be scheduled.