Medication Literacy Series

This examines proper drug disposal—the safe and timely removal of unused or unwanted drugs from an individual’s possession according to US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) standards—and what can make it difficult. 

“Medication management” is an inclusive term that describes the motivations and means that individuals use to coordinate their medication regimens accurately.

Generic drugs, the lower-cost versions of brand-name drugs that enter the market after a brand-name drug’s monopoly period ends, have come to assume a growing portion of the US drug market.

Prescription drug container labels are the consumer-facing information affixed to the drug containers (e.g., pill bottles, vials, inhalers, blister packs).

Medication literacy is the degree to which individuals can obtain, comprehend, communicate, calculate, and process patient-specific information about their medications.

This report highlights the essential components of drug formularies and the challenges older adults face when responding to the impacts and implications of formularies.

Proper disposal of unused or unwanted medicines is important to ensure your safety and the safety of others.

The best way to properly disposal of unused or unwanted medicines is to take them to one of the 14,000 approved drop-off locations.

If you can’t take your medicines to a drop-off site, you can dispose of them at home. Here is how to do so properly.

The ability to reconcile multiple medications, coordinating the use of prescription medications with over-the-counter drugs. This set of behaviors, which guide appropriate medication use, is commonly known as medication management.

Policies and practices that help older adults recognize the value of generics drugs and communicate with providers about the possibility of generic and biosimilar substitution would help eliminate generic drug access barriers.

Prescription drug container labels are particularly meaningful for older adults, who take a significant portion of the 4 billion prescriptions Americans fill every year.

A greater focus on medication literacy can help improve older adults’ medication decision making and potentially reduce both health and financial costs.

A key benefit of health insurance is access to prescription drugs. A health plan’s prescription drug formulary manages that access. At its core, a formulary is a list of prescription drugs covered by a plan.