Some excitement this week among my patient empowerment and government health colleagues about a new website from the NIH and National Library of Medicine - called PillBox.
Pillbox is a pill-identifying website with an important add on. You can go through the process of identifying the color, the shape and the imprint on the pill to figure out what that specific pill is.
Then, unlike other pill-identification sites, once you identify the pill or tablet you've found, you can link to additional information about that specific pill or tablet at the National Library of Medicine's Daily Med website, plus the NLM's drug information portal. Once there, you can learn those important things you need to know about any drug you are prescribed - side effects, contraindications and more. The only thing it won't tell you is whether it will work specifically for you (which you can't know until you begin taking it.)
I gave it a test run and, frankly, was disappointed in one aspect of it, although well-satisfied with another.
I used the site to identify a pill I take everyday (although - yes - I already know what it is!) Despite the fact that it's been on the market since 2002, the color / shape / size did not produce the information I needed. The site had no photo of it, and if there had not been an imprint on it, I could not have gone any further.
The imprint actually produced two possibilities. Since I know what it is, I was able to link to all that additional information from the NLM. But if I didn't? Well, the second possibility it produced would have been given to a patient with end-stage renal disease. Not even close! The additional information for both possibilities was quite extensive - all good - but of course, if you don't make the right identification to begin with, then the additional information won't be useful.
I went through the identification process I've outlined previously on here at About.com and sure enough, was able to identify the tablet easily, photo and all.
So yes, this is a bad news / good news scenario -- but is most definitely one more tool to put in the empowered patient's toolbox.
If one day you find a pill or tablet and you aren't sure what it is, or even if you want to double check that the pharmacy has provided the right drug to you, take a look at both resources to do your double checking:
• How to Identify a Pill, Tablet or Capsule
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Photo © Microsoft Image Gallery
I am the Project Manager for Pillbox at the National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health. Thank you for reviewing Pillbox and sharing it with About.com’s community.
Pillbox’s data is derived from the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Structured Product Labels (SPL) – the “drug labels.” Currently the SPL contains only a handful of pill images. To solve this challenge we have created a photography lab to develop standards for high-resolution images of pills. The ~1,000 images you see in Pillbox are the result of this research and development effort. We are working closely with the FDA and pharmaceutical manufacturers to increase the number of images and to have them included in the drug labels.
Currently Pillbox contains only prescription medications. We are testing a new dataset which includes many over-the-counter (OTC) and veterinary medications. When this dataset is released, it will contain over 10,000 records. We will continue working with partner agencies and organizations to increase the number of OTC and vet meds.
We would be happy to receive feedback regarding Pillbox at pillbox@mail.nih.gov
Thank you again for starting this conversation. I hope we can continue it.
David Hale
Project Manager, Pillbox
National Library of Medicine
National Institutes of Health