Take Two Aspirin and Do What?
We’ve all heard the old saw that physicians have terrible hand writing, and we’ve seen the warm, fuzzy commercials about pharmacists who go to heroic lengths to help their customers. Neither depiction is accurate, of course, and as good consumers, we need to make sure that we know what’s going on in our own prescription world. According to a representative from the American College of Physicians Foundation, medication error is the most common of all medical errors. Even those nifty pill container labels don’t do the job.
Ask the following five easy questions to help guarantee you get the most benefit from your prescribed medication:
Five Questions for Your Doctor
1. How many pills do I take at a time?
2. At what times of the day should I take these pills?
3. Is it important for me to finish all of this medicine?
4. Are there any specific instructions I need to know about how to take these pills? (i.e. with food or water, swallow whole, etc.).
5. What should I do if I miss a dose?
Read the whole article at www.npr.org where we’re reminded to take responsibility for our own welfare when we receive a prescription from our health care professional.
[tag] medicine, labels, prescription [/tags]
