Check Your Medications

Why should you check your medications?

Yesterday, I went to Costco and picked up a new dose of a medication I’ve been on for a few months. It looked completely different than the lower dose. The old dose was yellow and oval. This one is pink and round. I assumed it was the correct medication, but how would I know? It is a generic medication and looks different depending on the dose and company that produced it.

Pharmacies are usually excellent, but should we trust them with something as crucial as our medications? Mine is a blood pressure medication, and not getting the correct dose of the proper medication would be dangerous.

I have seen many instances in my medical career where a patient received the wrong medication from the pharmacy. Medication errors occur in about 2% of all prescriptions. We never identify some prescription errors, so the actual numbers may be higher. Sometimes, the pharmacy makes a mistake, but the physician may prescribe the incorrect medication. I love Costco, but even great companies can make errors.

Fortunately, you can easily check your medications. There are many websites available. I used Epocrates when I practiced medicine, but now I use Drugs.com. It is a trustworthy site, and of course, you can use two different sites and compare the results. Their Pill Identifier is simple. You type in the imprint on the pill or capsule, and it gives you the possible matches. It shows you what the medication should look like. If you want, you can describe the color and shape, which usually narrows it down to a single possibility. I checked my medication yesterday, and it was the medication I expected. It was free and took two minutes.

If you check your medications, you will have the peace of mind that you are receiving the medications you should be taking. The lab that made the pill could have made a mistake, but that would be rare.

When it comes to your health, be your own advocate and double-check everything you can.