How to Identify Prescription Meds
With the multitude of prescription medications on the market, it can be easy to confuse one pill with another. But taking the wrong medication can have serious consequences. It's important that you learn how to verify exactly what a medication is, to ensure that it's the exact formula your physician prescribed.
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Instructions
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Keep medications in the original containers, along with the information sheets provided by the pharmacy. If you transfer a medication to a travel container or a daily/weekly reminder container, do so carefully and only after you've verified the medication and dosage.
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Avoid making assumptions based on a casual glance. Only the code printed on the medication can accurately verify the pill; that combination of letters, numbers or symbols is unique to each medication. Although color, size, and shape are helpful, be aware that these characteristics can differ with manufacturer or generic equivalents.
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Select a reputable pill identification site such as Drugs.com and RxList.com, which usually provide visuals plus descriptions of the medications, approvals, and additional names for the drugs. Pill guidelines are available in books, but Internet information is updated more quickly, and a book might have been printed before new pills or changes in medications.
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Carefully check the pill imprint, its color, and shape against the pharmaceutical database that shows the pill with its identifying characteristics.
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Realize that generic equivalents of your medications might look different that the branded versions. However, if you are unsure about any drug, do not take it. Do not take any drug that did not come from a reputable pharmacy.
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Tips & Warnings
Purchase medications only from legitimate pharmacies. Even if you know the pharmacy, it's always a good idea to double-check the medication. Mistakes happen, and you should know exactly what pills you are taking. Each time you pick up a new or renewed prescription, verify that you were given the correct pills and dosage.
