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Oregon News: Prescription Description
Published in the November 2007 Oregon State Board of Pharmacy Newsletter
Following a law passed in 2000, additional information began appearing on the medication labels of prescription products received by Oregonians beginning in 2002 from their pharmacies. The Accuracy Label, or Product Identification Label (PIL), is the first labeling requirement of its kind in the United States, calling for a physical description of the contents inside the prescription bottle, including the size, shape, color and any identification code that may appear on the tablet or capsule.
The Oregon Board of Pharmacy worked with pharmacy computer software companies to develop the technology to incorporate a product description for each item and print that descriptive information on the prescription label. Having the physical description of the product on the label helps improve patient safety by reducing the possibility of an error in preparation or dispensing. As your pharmacist dispenses the medication to you, he or she discusses the product, and this discussion may include opening the bottle of medication to show that the characteristics of the product match the description on the prescription label. This information is also helpful to have at home – if you spill the contents of a bottle, or mix prescriptions together. Using the PIL will help you identify the medication by comparing the actual product to the description on the label.
Others involved in your health care also benefit from pharmacists including the PIL on your medication bottles. Emergency Room (ER) physicians frequently struggle to determine the medication products found on a patient who was involved in an accident, or for other reasons can not accurately describe the medications he or she may be taking. With a PIL on the prescription bottles, an ER physician or technician can quickly verify the contents of the products and take care of the patient appropriately.
The Oregon Board of Pharmacy consists of seven members, five practicing pharmacists and two public members, who are appointed by the Governor. The mission of the Oregon Board of Pharmacy is to promote, preserve, and protect the public health, safety and welfare by establishing high standards in the practice of pharmacy and regulating the quality and distribution of drugs and medical devices in the state. The entire Oregonian supplement celebrating American Pharmacists Month is available at www.oregonlive.com/ospecials.
By Kate Farthing, PharmD, Oregon Health and Science University and Gary Schnabel, RPh, RN, Oregon State Board of Pharmacy, for the Oregonian’s October 2007 American Pharmacists Month consumer education supplement.
