Prescription medicines: researching what you need to know

Thinking about buying your prescription medicines online?

http://www.fda.gov/Drugs/ResourcesForYou/Consumers/BuyingUsingMedicineSafely/BuyingMedicinesOvertheInternet/BeSafeRxKnowYourOnlinePharmacy/default.htm

FDA kicks-off BeSafeRx to raise awareness of the dangers of buying prescription medicines from fake online pharmacies. For more information visit, www.FDA.gov/BeSafeRx

Gary Coody, FDA's National Health Fraud Coordinator, warns consumers about the risks of purchasing from fake online pharmacies and provides tips for buying medicine safely online as part of the national campaign, "FDA BeSafeRx -- Know Your Online Pharmacy." Watch the 3 minute video.

Learn more about medicines with DailyMed and the Drug Information Portal

MedlinePlus presents an easy to use Drugs, Herbs and Supplements page. Learn about your prescription drugs and over-the-counter medicines. Includes side effects, dosage, special precautions, and more.Browse dietary supplements and herbal remedies to learn about their effectiveness, usual dosage, and drug interactions.

DailyMed provides high quality information about marketed drugs. This information includes FDA labels (package inserts). This Web site provides health information providers and the public with a standard, comprehensive, up-to-date, look-up and download resource of medication content and labeling as found in medication package inserts. The National Library of Medicine (NLM) provides this as a public service and does not accept advertisements.

Drug Information Portal from the National Library of Medicine (NLM) gives users a gateway to selected drug information from the U.S. National Library of Medicine and other key U.S. Government agencies. The search box in the middle of the page lets you search many government resources for drug information simultaneously. More than 31,000 drugs can be searched using this facility. The portal covers drugs from the time they are entered into clinical trials (Clinicaltrials.gov) through their entry in the U.S. market place (Drugs@FDA). Many drugs in other countries are covered, but not as thoroughly as U.S. drugs. Resources such as MedlinePlus provide easy to read summaries of the uses and efficacy of a drug.

Avoid medication errors and drug interactions

Medication errors are preventable. Your best defense is asking questions and being informed about the medications you take. Cut your risk of medication errors with these tips from the Mayo Clinic staff.

If you take several different medicines, see more than one doctor, or have certain health conditions, you and your doctors need to be aware of all the

medicines you take. Doing so will help you to avoid potential problems such as drug interactions. Learn more with the FDA's Drug Interactions: What You Should Know.

Lissa Staley

Librarian

Lissa Staley is a familiar face around the library and throughout Topeka. As Community Connections librarian, she comes alongside people and organizations while they work to learn, experiment and improve their own lives and the community around them. From Library Trivia and NaNoWrimo to voter education and non-profit support, she enjoys helping people make connections to the community and each other. She reads a combination of speculative and science fiction novels, self-help and social justice, and local news, while trying to make sense of them all together.

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