profession
AMA urges patients to double-check medications
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted March 21, 2011
The American Medical Association in March made a free medication safety checklist available to help patients avoid contraindications and comply with their physicians' orders.
The checklist asks patients to list all the medications, vitamins and other supplements they are taking and talk with their doctors about them. The form advises patients to stop taking any medications without their physicians' approval and ask questions about medications they do not understand.
"The medication safety checklist fosters a partnership between patients and their physicians focused on eliminating medication errors," said AMA Board of Trustees member Edward L. Langston, MD. "By talking to their physicians about all medications and supplements, whether or not they are prescribed, patients take an active role in health care safety."
The checklist is available online (link).
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2011/03/21/prbf0321.htm.
