How to Identify Pills by Manufacturers

You may have experienced this at one time or another--finding an unidentified pill left lying around in your drawers, on the carpet or in your pocket. Rather than toss it out, there is an easy way to determine the identity of a pill and in doing so, you can learn how to identify pills by manufacturers.

Difficulty:

Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• Magnifying glass

1. Access Drugs.com Pill Identifier (see Resources). Once there, you must agree to the terms of use before accessing this portion of the website. You must understand that the use of the website is not in place of the expert advice of your doctor or pharmacist.

2. Use your magnifying glass to look carefully at the pill in question. The letters and numbers on the pills can sometimes be very small. Examine all aspects of the pill, both front and back.

3. Determine the pill's imprint. An imprint is an identifying marker that makes the pill unique, which is required by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for all pills, capsules and tablets. Look for numbers, letters or other characters. Some even have the manufacturer's logo imprinted on them.

4. Use the imprint to determine the manufacturer and other information. For example, the generic form of Vicodin, hydrocodone, has the imprint marker M357. This is all you need to identify the manufacturer of this pill. Gabapentin, generic for Neurontin, has an imprint of 4444, which, once again, is all that is necessary to identify the pill's manufacturer and what the pill is. Many times, the pill's imprint is all you need to identify everything about the pill. But when that doesn't work, you need more information (see below).

5. Identify the pill's color and shape. Because some pills are very similar in characteristics, you may need this information in case the pill's manufacturer cannot be located using just the imprint.

6. Input the pill's imprint, color and shape into the pill identifier. This information should be enough to identify the pill, along with the manufacturer. If you are still unable to identify the pill, it could mean that the pill is not approved by the FDA.

7. Don't take any pill unless it is prescribed for you, and you know what it is. Taking other people's medication can be extremely dangerous.

Tips & Warnings

• Still having trouble identifying the pill? Ask your doctor or pharmacist for help.

• This information should not replace sound medical advice.

Resources

• Drugs.com Pill Identifier
• "The Pill Book" by Harold Silverman