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Consumer Drug Safety Information
Sample Medication Lists | Info on Specific Medications
| Medication Safety Materials for Consumers
When consumers become informed and engaged partners in
their own health care, they can decrease the probability that they will experience
a medication error. The Institute of Medicine, in its 2007 Preventing Medication Errors report, gave the following
examples of actions to take as empowered partners in their care.
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Maintain a list of the prescription drugs, nonprescription drugs, and other products,
such as vitamins and minerals, you are taking.
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Take this list with you whenever you visit a health care provider and have him or
her review it.
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Periodically review the list of medications with your pharmacist. Ask the pharmacist
how to take each drug properly, what side effects it has, and what to do if you
experience a side effect.
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Be aware of where to find educational materials related to your medication(s) in
the local community and at reliable Internet sites.
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Sample Medication Lists
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Information on Specific Medications
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Medication Safety Materials for Consumers
The National Council on Patient Information and Education has developed several
brochures describing what consumers can do to improve medication safety and prevent
errors. Examples are:
The Massachusetts Coalition for the Prevention of Medical Errors has published a
guide for patients and families titled
Your Role in Safe Medication Use.
The FDA collaborated with the Council on Family Health to produce these brochures:
The American Pharmacists Association has developed guidelines for consumers:
Avoiding Medication Errors.
Your Medicine:
Play It Safe is available from the Institute for Safe Medication Practices.
Additional information about health and medications is available at the National
Library of Medicine's Web site, MedlinePlus.
Information on how to report medication problems or adverse drug events is available
through the FDA's MedWatch
program.
This is for informational purposes only. Your doctor is the best source of information
concerning you and your health. Please ask your doctor if you have any questions
about your health or your medications.
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