How to Identify Medicines & Pills

So you've just found a phantom pill on the floor of your child's bedroom and you're not sure what it is or what you should do about it. Relax, because there are some easy ways to identify medicines and pills that will help you solve the puzzle. Before being approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), every pill, capsule and tablet must be unique in appearance, simplifying the identification process.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. Identify the size and shape of the medicine. Is it large or small? Is it round, oval, rectangular or square?

2. Determine the pattern, if any, present on the medicine. Is it two-toned? Speckled? Does it have any lines running across it?

3. Figure out what color the medicine is. Is it light blue? Dark blue? Is it just one color, or a combination of colors?

4. Look for identifiers or markers on the medicine, such as specific words, numbers, names or letters. Sometimes the medicine may even have the pharmaceutical company's logo on it.

5. Input the identifying markers of the medication into the Drugs.com pill identifier. For example, if the pill has the marker CIP 500, this is all you need to figure out that this pill is a 500-mg dose of ciprofloxacin.

6. Continue putting data into the pill identifier until you determine the medication name.

Tips & Warnings

• Having trouble identifying a certain medication? It could be that the drug is not approved by the FDA. Still having trouble identifying your medicine? Your local pharmacist may be able to help.
• Don't ever risk taking a drug whose identity has not been determined. Taking unknown medication can have serious, even fatal consequences.

Resources

• Drugs.com pill identifier

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