Consumer Education: What You Need to Know to Use Medicine Safely

The following consumer education materials can help you work with your health professionals to make the best medicine choices, buy safely, and use medicine so it's as safe and effective as possible.

• Topics
• Information for Specific Medicines

 Topics

• Antibiotics and Antibiotic Resistance
• Buying Medicine and Medical Products Over the Internet
• Buying Medicine from Outside the United States
• Counterfeit Medicine
• Ensuring Safe Use of Medicine, including:
  • General use of prescription and over-the-counter medicine
  • Driving when you are using medicine
  • Safe use of medicines for seniors
  • Safe disposal of medicines
• Generic Drugs
• Misuse of Prescription Pain Relievers
• Over-the-Counter Medicine, including:
  • Choosing the right over-the-counter medicine (OTCs)
  • The Over-the-Counter Medicine Label
  • Tips For Parents
  • Pain Relievers/Fever Reducers: Using Acetaminophen and NSAID Medicine Safely
  • Safe Use of Daily Aspirin
  • Medicines in My Home
• Consumer Education from Other Government Agencies

 Information for Specific Medicines

"Index to Drug-Specific Information" - list of drugs for which there is detailed safety information. Qs and As, press releases, safety alerts, and other related information can be accessed from the list.

"Drugs@FDA" - catalog of FDA-approved drugs. Enter a drug name and receive brand and generic information, FDA-approved labels, drug histories and other official documents.