Clearer Prescription Drug Labels May Be on the Way

Safety-standards group wants to simplify confusing language that can lead to dosing mistakes

By Steven Reinberg
HealthDay Reporter

TUESDAY, Oct. 9 (HealthDay News) -- Confusing dosing instructions for prescription drugs cause more than a million medication mix-ups a year in the United States, but experts say proposed labeling changes could slash that number.

The U.S. Pharmacopeial Convention (USP) -- a nonprofit group that often sets drug safety standards -- is proposing a major reworking and standardizing of the medication labels Americans read every day.

"So many people make mistakes taking their medicines," said Dr. Joanne Schwartzberg, director of aging and community health at the American Medical Association and a member of the USP's Nomenclature, Safety and Labeling Expert Committee.

Many mistakes result from dosing directions that simply aren't clear to patients, she said. For example: "Take two pills twice daily," to many patients means "take two pills a day," rather than the intended instruction of taking a daily total of four pills, Schwartzberg explained.

"That's a mistake that [even] college-educated people make. The words are very simple, but understanding what they mean can be a problem," Schwartzberg said.

Prescription drug labeling can also differ widely from drugstore to drugstore, she added, and the new labels are an attempt to standardize information for patients.

For example, one drugstore in Chicago printed labels for one patient that offered different instructions for each drug -- "PO" (doctor-speak for "take by mouth"); "take by mouth;" "take orally;" "take per oral route."

"We say use one phrase [consistently], let's not confuse people," Schwartzberg said.

Labels changes the USP would like to see include: