The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 271 No 7256 p13
5 July 2003

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Letters to the Editor

Labels

Labels that could be improved by being rewritten

From Mr P. Wood, MRPharmS

A news item in your issue of 14 June (p817) "Make labels more user friendly" drew my attention. Two additional labels come to mind which could be improved by being rewritten:

1. "Take with or after food" re-written to read "Take with or immediately after food". I have known patients wait more than an hour after food before taking medicines (including non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) covered by this labelling requirement and still feel convinced that they are fully complying with this instruction.

2. "Take one hour before food or on an empty stomach" re-written to read "To be taken on an empty stomach either one hour before food or more than two hours after food". This would be more helpful for medicines such as antibiotics which need to be taken at regular intervals.

Peter Wood
Carlisle

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