Rx Decoded

What is the FDA doing to make prescriptions more patient-friendly?

By Cynthia Dermody

From Reader's Digest

More on:

• National Health Care
• Your Medical Care
• Health Insurance
• Prescription Drugs

If you've ever bothered to look at the big sheet of paper that comes folded up inside your prescriptions, you know it’s not the lightest reading material.

But starting June 30, thanks to new FDA rules, the patient-prescribing information for many drugs will be more user-friendly. The very first section, Highlights, includes what you want to know most: dangerous interactions, side effects and other risks. The confusing chemical data have been eliminated or moved to the back. The FDA hopes doctors will be more likely to pass the info on to patients, but it’s also a chance for you to take control. Not all pharmacists give the inserts, so be sure to ask for them.

From Reader's Digest - May 2006

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• The Safety of Prescription Drugs: Major Reality Check
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• Keep Pill Popping Safe: The Pill Routine
• 9 ways to better manage your medicines and supplements
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• Prescription Patches -- Better Than Pills?: Convenience
• More and more medicines come in a patch. Are they right for you?
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