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Tips for Taking Medicines Safely

Summary & Participants

Prescription drug errors are common. Here are five steps you can take to help make sure you get the right drug at the right dose, improve communications with your doctor and pharmacist, and get the support you need.

Medically Reviewed On: July 11, 2008

Webcast Transcript

DAVID BATES, MD: It's always an important thing when you get your medicines from the pharmacy to go over them and make sure that they all look familiar. Most of the time, if you get something that doesn't look familiar, it'll be because the pharmacy has substituted a generic drug for a brand name prescription that the doctor wrote, and generally that's fine.

But once in a while the pharmacy does dispense a medication that's different than the one that the doctor intended. So it's very important to go through the medications you receive when you get them.

ANNOUNCER: Most medicines have side effects. Safety checkmark four is: Ask about them.

DAVID BATES, MD: I think it's important for the patient to ask, if their physician doesn't volunteer, "Doctor, what are the side effects of this new drug that you're suggesting?" The pharmacists also have good information about that and are typically very happy to share that kind of information with patients. And it's important when you're having a side effect to let your doctor know about that and share it with him so that you can decide together about what to do next.

ANNOUNCER: Sometimes the effects of medicines must be monitored. Safety item five is: Check whether you need laboratory tests.

DAVID BATES, MD: Lab tests are important for a whole variety of medications now, and it's hard for physicians to remember to do all the testing that makes a difference.

Carolyn Clancy, MD: There are a number of medications that are incredibly important in terms of keeping people healthy or helping them prevent bad outcomes like strokes, blood clots, and so forth, but those medications also require careful monitoring.

ANNOUNCER: Another factor contributing to prescription drug errors is: The prescription.

GREGG S. MEYER, MD: Again, one of the most important things patients can do is they can ask questions. If you do get a handwritten prescription, look at it and read it. If you're having trouble understanding what it says, it's likely the pharmacist may have that same trouble. Ask for another copy of it; ask for one to be printed out, because that can really make a difference.

ANNOUNCER: Medicines can be powerful aids to help keep us well. But experts remind us, using them correctly requires checking and double checking, on the part of the doctor, the pharmacist, and the patient.

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