While doctors today are more forthcoming, many patients still have a hard time getting important information about the drugs their doctors prescribe. The rest of the labeling is for the medical professional, in language that may be difficult for lay people to understand. This lack of information for patients may be one reason for the recent finding, published in 1992 in the Journal of Clinical Pharmacy and Therapeutics, that about half of prescription drugs don't work as intended because they are improperly used.
Noncompliance can have tragic consequences.
Missed doses of heart medications, for example, may lead to cardiac arrest. And missed doses of anti-glaucoma medicines can lead to eye nerve damage and blindness. Simple, Relevant Information Under the action plan, health professionals will voluntarily provide prescription drug information to patients in the form of leaflets written in simple language. Useful prescription drug information must reach at least 75 percent of patients by the year 2000, in keeping with the Department of Health and Human Services goal under its Healthy People 2000 program. By 2006, the information must reach at least 95 percent of patients.