Main description:

Every year at least 1.5 million people suffer adverse effects from medication. These problems occur because people misunderstand labels, are unaware of drug interactions, or otherwise use medication improperly. The Food and Drug Administration's Safe Use Initiative seeks to identify preventable medication risks and develop solutions to them. The IOM held a workshop to discuss the FDA's Safe Use Initiative and other efforts to improve drug labeling and safety.

Contents:

1 Front Matter; 2 1 Introduction; 3 2 FDA Safe Use Initiative; 4 3 Over-the-Counter Products; 5 4 Initiatives to Advance Patient-Centered Drug Safety; 6 5 Identifying Activities Around Which to Build Partnerships for Patient-Centered Drug Safety; 7 6 How Can the Lessons of Health Literacy Be Used to Build Patient-Centered Outcomes for Safe Use?; 8 References; 9 Appendix A: Acronyms; 10 Appendix B: Workshop Agenda; 11 Appendix C: Workshop Speaker Biosketches