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Patient Education

Prescription medicines have many benefits, yet it is important to understand that they are not risk-free. By becoming well-informed about your medications and how to use them properly, you can help to ensure that you:

  • Get a medication’s full benefits
  • Avoid potential problems such as side effects

Doctors, pharmacists and other healthcare professionals can help you better understand the benefits and risks associated with the medicines you take. In addition to seeking advice and information from healthcare professionals, doing your own homework on your medications is a great way to become a more informed patient.

This Web site is designed to help you have productive and informative conversations with healthcare professionals, and provide you with valuable information to help you use your medications safely and effectively.



Avoiding medication errors is key to getting the full benefit of any medication, and to minimize the risk of side effects and other unwanted results. Medication errors are commonly caused by:

  • Incomplete information about a patient
  • Incomplete information about a medication, such as warnings or side effects
  • Poor communication regarding a prescription such as illegible handwriting, confusion between similar drug names, misuse of zeroes or decimal points or inappropriate abbreviations
  • Lack of appropriate labeling on the drug container or pharmacy shelf