Study: Prescription Labels Need A Makeover

Fool-proofing is easy. Idiot-proofing is not since idiots are so ingenious. There will always be those who can "beat the system."

Maybe improving reading and math skills or redefining "adequate" for literacy skills would be a better way to go.

"Patients were shown labels for five common prescription drugs: two antibiotics, a cough medicine, a blood pressure drug, and a diuretic. They read each label aloud, then answered questions about how they would take the drug. A panel of experts reviewed their answers.

Almost half the patients — 46 percent — were 'unable to read and correctly state one or more of the label instructions,' the researchers write. Those with poor reading skills were more likely to misunderstand the labels. But almost four out of 10 of those with 'adequate' literacy skills made mistakes, according to the study.

Patients generally understood straightforward instructions, like 'Take one tablet in the morning and one at 5 p.m.' But some misread doses, such as mistaking 'teaspoon' for 'tablespoon.' Others were thrown by complicated instructions.

For instance, 333 of the patients correctly read aloud the instruction, 'Take two tablets by mouth twice daily.' But when asked how many of those tablets they should take in a day, a third of them got the answer wrong. The right answer is four tablets per day. "