Drugs, Supplements & Safety for Empowered Patients

We see their faces on our TVs, in movies, online and in magazines, telling us to buy a drug or to ask our doctors to write us prescriptions for the drugs they supposedly take, too. But can we patients learn anything from celebrities who appear in drug advertisements or TV commercials?

So many available prescription drugs have so many similar sounding names, it's easy to understand why dispensing mistakes can be made. Confirming your prescription with your doctor is a smart move for any empowered patient.

You may find a pill on the floor and not know what it is, or you may want to double check the tablets or capsules your pharmacist just gave you for your new prescription. Learn how to identify pills, tablets or capsules.

When we are given a new prescription drug, or if we decide to take an over-the-counter drug, we need to be aware that the new drug might conflict with another drug, an herbal supplement or even a food or beverage. Here are some things to know about avoiding drug conflicts and interactions.

Buying prescription drugs online - or any drugs online - can be easy, convenient and money-saving. Or it can be a nightmare, robbing you of your money and/or your health. Learn how to purchase your prescription drugs safely and legally from an online pharmacy.

Sometimes the best drug pricing can be found in other countries, including Canadian pharmacies, Mexican pharmacies, even online drug stores in other countries. But Americans must tackle these challenges - is it legal and safe to purchase drugs from foreign pharmacies? And what does the FDA say about personal importation and re-importation? Here...

Prescription drug ads can be found on TV, in magazines and newspapers, on the radio and the Internet. Learn why pharma manufacturers aim their ads at patients and how to use those ads to your benefit.

There are several types of drug conflicts and interactions you might encounter, all of which can make you sick, or even kill you. Here are the types of interactions and conflicts, examples of each, and links to suggestions for prevention.

If your doctor prescribes a drug for you, it's possible that by the time the written or verbal prescription makes it through the dispensing process, you will be given the wrong drug or the wrong dosage or the wrong instructions. Empowered patients understand the perils of drug errors.

Written prescriptions are difficult to decipher because they often contain shorthand, acronyms and abbreviations. Here are some guidelines for understanding written prescriptions.

The FDA approval process does not guarantee that the pharmaceutical drugs or medical devices it approves are safe and effective for the patients who will be treated using them. Learn what you can do to protect yourself from newly approved drugs or devices that are not safe.

New pharmaceutical drugs and medical devices are approved regularly by the FDA. As patients, we assume that means they are safe and effective. But there are some reasons why those drugs may not turn out to be exactly what we hope. Here are some considerations to be aware of.

Counterfeit drugs have made their way into America's legal drug supply, making us sick, threatening our lives, or at the very least, preventing us from their promise of improving our health. Understanding how these bogus drugs get into the pharmacy, and how it is we may be given the fake drugs to take, helps us learn how to prevent being harmed by them.

The FDA has determined that at least 28 "natural" or "herbal" weight loss drugs and supplements are contaminated with dangerous ingredients which may lead to debilitation or death. Find the most recent list of dangerous weight loss drugs and learn why they may harm you.

The abbreviations and acronyms doctors use when they write prescriptions can be confusing, and make it more difficult for us to understand what has been prescribed. This list of those abbreviations will help you decipher the code and help you better understand your doctor's instructions.