Lee Summit Mo

Drug prescriptions confuse many users

ST. LOUIS — When pharmacies, doctors' offices and homes were destroyed by the tornado in Joplin, Mo., so were the medication records of many patients. Pharmacists who helped out report that many people could not recall the names of their prescription drugs or the dosages they were taking.

"We talk to them about what they're on, they say 'I want that little red pill,' said Roger Prock, a pharmacist from Lee's Summit, Mo., who has been working at a Target pharmacy in Joplin once a week since the tornado hit.

Prock said he wasn't really surprised by people's lack of drug knowledge, since "a number of people even in good times don't know what they're on."

The advent of electronic medical records has helped with keeping track, but they're not always available. And it's not just tornadoes that can wipe out a person's drug records. People can be left without their prescriptions if their luggage is lost or they're in an accident, Prock said.

"They should have a list of the drugs in their purse," he said. "Maybe more people will think about it and do it now."

The Institute of Medicine estimates that 90 million Americans have trouble comprehending health information, including prescription drug labels and instructions. That can cause serious problems: more than 700,000 emergency room trips each year are caused by prescription drug mix-ups.

Confusion is understandable when brand-name drugs for different conditions often have similar names — like Fosomax (osteoporosis) and Flomax (enlarged prostate), Avinza (pain) and Evista (osteoporosis).

Another common problem, pharmacists say, is when doctors switch to a generic version of a prescription drug but the patient also keeps taking the brand-name drug, inadvertently giving themselves a double dose.

Natural disasters might put a spotlight on this problem, but they're not the cause, said Arthur Culbert, president of Health Literacy Missouri, a nonprofit based in St. Louis.

The average American reads at about a seventh-grade level, while prescription drug information is written at an 11th or 12th grade level.

"We in this country are given information around drug medication that we just simply don't understand," Culbert said.

A campaign from Health Literacy Missouri starting this fall will help people organize and understand their medications. The group has designed a bag that people can put their drugs in and take to their doctor. The bag will include pictures and easy-to-understand language about how important it is to keep track of your prescriptions. People can write down their drugs and dosages to keep in the bag.

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Code of ordinances, city of Lee's Summit, Missouri, containing the general ordinances of the city. Adopted August 6, 1968; effective August 6, 1968

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