Reading a Medicine Label

Medicine labels contain a wealth of information. That information exists there to accomplish two main purposes: To help the consumer make comparisons and to help consumers make informed purchases. In order to accomplish those two objectives, a medicine label must contain certain information. I want to take a look at some of the information that a medicine label must contain.

First of all, it’s going to have dosage information. This is how much of the medicine that can be taken by the consumer, as well as frequency which is how often that medicine can be taken. There will also be warning information, generally about side effects that could arise from taking the medication.

There will be a list of ingredients that says everything that’s in the medicine, as well as a more specified list about active ingredients. Active ingredients are considered important, because they accomplish the stated purpose of the medicine. If the purpose of the medicine is to relieve pain, the active ingredients, or the active ingredient, is going to be what actually relieves pain.

There will also be information as to what to do in case of an overdose or adverse reaction. In addition to all that information, there will be a list of who should not take it. The list of who should not take it is going to differ with each medicine, but, generally, it might contain people like pregnant women or the elderly. Remember that all this information here is for the purpose of helping the consumer to make comparisons and informed purchases.