Lack of information about how drugs interact with each other is not confined to old people. One in three men are also unaware what drugs are used in OTC medicines. They are also much less likely than women to ask the pharmacist for advice. Expert advice from the pharmacist is available when buying medicines, people need to make sure the pharmacists has the information they need to give accurate advice. She added that the elderly were the least likely to ask for advice and to volunteer information.
Drugs can interact with one another making one more poisonous or less effective.
But other experts said the statistics showed the way the health service dealt with older people needed to be improved. Christine Glover, president of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society said pharmacists were experts in how medicines interacted with each other and should be used as a resource by patients.