Consultus News

General News

Clearer Medicine Labelling

Experts have called for changes to be made to medicine labelling after claiming that in some instances these are too vague. British National Formulary (BNF) officials have recommended changes be made in a bid to make the labels clearer.

Research, commissioned by the BNF, found that many people do not understand the messages that some label instructions give.  For example, the research found 'avoid alcoholic drink' could be open to misinterpretation and now recommends labels read 'do not drink alcohol while taking this medicine'.

The word drowsiness was also cited as 'not always readily understood' and should now be improved to state 'this medicine may make you sleepy'.

The research was carried out by Theo Raynor, Professor of Pharmacy Practice at the University of Leeds, who stated: 'Most medicines do contain leaflets which provide detailed information for patients. However the leaflets may get lost, which means that the label on the medicine plays a very important part in guiding people's behaviour. 'It is vital therefore that wordings on labels are simple and straightforward.'

Source: Press Association

News Date: March 2011

Back to General News