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02/22/12
Always
consult a doctor or your medical professional before purchasing or using prescription
medication.
Suggestions for Making Prescription-Drug
Labels More Clear.
A report by the Institute of Medicine
estimates that 90 million Americans can’t fully understand and act upon health
information. The U.S. Pharmacopeial Convention, which sets drug standards, today
proposed changes to chip away at some of that confusion, at least when it comes
to the labels that pharmacists put on prescriptions they fill.
The USP is offering standards that it says will make label information and
instructions more comprehensible. For example, instructions to “Take two tablets
twice daily” can raise confusion; saying “Take 2 tablets in the morning and
2 tablets in the evening” makes the numbers more explicit and also specifies
exactly when to take the medications.
The recommendations also suggest that if it’s okay with the patient, labels
should include the purpose of the drug, and in plain language, i.e. “for high
blood pressure” rather than “for hypertension.”
And, the proposed standards recommend formatting that can make labels easier
to read, including using regular sentence structure, and laying out labels
so users don’t have to rotate the container to read them.
Discount Prescriptions
© 2010, 2011.
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