USP Advisory Panel Recommends Patient-Centered Standards for Prescription Labels

May 19, 2010 2:47 PM Topics: Prescription label

To address the problem of patient misinterpretation of medication instructions, the United States Pharmacopeial Convention (USP) Health Literacy and Prescription Container Labeling Advisory Panel developed and recently released recommendations for standardizing the format, appearance, content, and language of prescription labels. The panel, on which NABP participated, developed the patient-centered recommendations in response to a call for such standards from the Institute of Medicine. A USP press release includes more details about the panel’s recommendations. The recommendations will form the basis for consideration of a new USP general chapter on prescription container labeling. A proposed General Chapter, Prescription Container Labeling, is expected to be completed within the next few months.