FDA proposes revamping medication guides that come with prescriptions

The US Food and Drug Administration has proposed to add to what you get with your prescription drugs.

The proposed rule would require the prescriptions you get to come with a new kind of single-page medication guide with an easy-to-use set of directions and easy-to-understand safety information, a goal the FDA has been working toward for years.

One study found that nearly 75% of Americans have had trouble taking their medicine as directed. A lot of that is due to cost – people might not be able to afford their medicine, so they don’t take it – but some is due to confusion. They might get more than one kind of written information with their prescription, or the information they receive can be conflicting, incomplete or repetitive, the FDA said.

When people are confused or misinformed about their prescription, there is a good chance they will not take it or will stop taking it, and that can directly hurt their health.

“Research suggests that medication nonadherence can contribute to nearly 25% of hospital admissions, 50% of treatment failures, and approximately 125,000 deaths in our country each year,” the FDA says.

The agency said the new proposal is also meant to help fight the “nation’s crisis with health care misinformation and disinformation.”

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Source: CNN, 30 May 2023