About GPhA

Americans take an average of 10 prescription medicines a year, which makes managing medication use an important issue. The following tips can help make this task a little easier. And, remember, if you have any questions about your drugs, you should consult your doctor, nurse, or pharmacist.

Developing a Personal Medication Record

A personal medication record provides an easy way to keep track of all the medications—prescription, over-the-counter, vitamins, and supplements—that you take. Every time your doctors prescribe a new drug, you should review your medication list with them. This is the best way to prevent potentially harmful drug interactions.

By keeping your medication record up-to-date, you do not need to remember the names of all of your medications or the doses. If you already have a list, you have taken a great step toward ensuring the safety of your health. If you need to start a list, there are two choices of personal medication record tools at the right. You can print out these tools and complete them by hand, or the FDA version can be filled in on your computer.

Keep your medication list with you in your purse or wallet, and share copies with your family and health care providers.

Special Information for:

• Parents
• Adults
• Seniors

Helpful Tools

My Personal Medication Record
Printable form from the Generic Pharmaceutical Association that you can print out and fill in by hand.

Drug Interaction Checker
A tool from AARP that lets you check whether your various medications could have harmful interactions.
http://www.aarp.org/health/conditions/articles/goldstandard.interactions...

Drug Digest
A tool from DrugDigest for checking potential drug interactions.
http://www.drugdigest.org/ Click “Check Interactions”

RxList Pill Identification Tool
Accurately identifies pills, drugs, and medications, when you cannot find the original packaging.
http://www.rxlist.com/pill-identification-tool/article.htm

Find Out More

Consumer Reports Best Buy Drugs (también en español)
Information from Consumer Reports about medication safety, effectiveness, and saving money on drugs.
http://www.consumerreports.org/health/best-buy-drugs/index.htm

Check Your Medicines: Tips for Using Medicines Safely
From the Food and Drug Administration.
http://www.fda.gov/cder/consumerinfo/check_your_meds.htm

No se arriesgue con sus medicamentos
Aprenda más acerca de cómo usar los medicamentos con seguridad por leer esta guía. La guía contesta preguntas comúnes acerca de obtener y tomar los medicamentos y tiene varios formularios que le ayudarán a mantener el registro de sus medicamentos.
http://www.ahrq.gov/consumer/safemedsp/safemedsp.htm

20 Tips to Help Prevent Medical Errors
From the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
http://www.ahrq.gov/consumer/20tips.htm

Your Role in Reducing Medication Errors
From the National Council on Patient Information and Education.
http://www.talkaboutrx.org/tap_newsletter.jsp

Drug Interactions: What You Should Know (también en español)
From the Council on Family Health, National Consumers League, and Food and Drug Administration.
http://www.pueblo.gsa.gov/cic_text/health/drug-interactions/druginte3.pdf

Index to Drug-Specific Information
Access to all available FDA patient data sheets.
http://www.fda.gov/cder/drug/DrugSafety/DrugIndex.htm

Search Drugs A-Z
AARP resource on individual drugs, including side effects, interactions, and more.
http://www.aarp.org/health/conditions/articles/goldstandard.html

Educate before you Medicate (también en español)
General information about the use of prescription drugs from the National Council on Patient Information and Education.
http://www.talkaboutrx.org/index.jsp