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Do you ever have questions on how to safely take your medicines?

Medication errors can happen in clinics and hospitals, pharmacies, and at home. Patients and healthcare providers, however, can work together to help prevent these errors.

Follow our patient Anna as she makes the most of visits with her healthcare team and pays attention to how to take her medicine’s at home

Learn how to use your medicines more safely

 

safety for patients

Medicines improve the lives of many people. They can help us get healthy and stay healthy.

For most patients, the benefits of taking a medicine are greater than the risks when used as prescribed.1 Risks include medication errors, which are preventable mistakes that may harm a patient or lead to inappropriate medication use. 2

These errors can happen in clinics and hospitals, in pharmacies and at home

They cause almost 100,000 hospitalizations every year in the United States3

Patients like you can help prevent medication errors

Remember to: 4
  • Talk with your healthcare team and ask questions about your health and medicines
  • Read medicine labels carefully and follow instructions on how to take your medicines more safely
  • Be an engaged partner in your health and the health of others

Never forget that you, the patient, are an important member of the healthcare team. 5

Meet Anna

Anna, our patient, manages her whole family’s medicines. She makes the most of visits with her healthcare team including:

At the Clinic image

anna visits doctor
When Anna visits her new doctor, Dr. Chan, she brings a list of the medicines she takes and questions to ask her doctor.

 

at visit
At the visit, Anna and her doctor share information. They build the best possible treatment plan for her.

 

anna leaves doctor
Anna leaves her doctor’s office with a prescription and information on her new medicine’s benefits and risks.

At the Pharmacy image

anna visits
Anna visits her pharmacist, Dr. Rosa, to pick up a few of her refills and the new medicine Dr. Chan prescribed.

 

 

 

anna leaves
Before Anna leaves the pharmacy, Dr. Rosa explains some of the medicine’s important points.

At Home image

anna pays
At home, Anna pays special attention to how to take and store her medicines.6

Special Groups image

pills
Anna also helps manage the medicines that her mother and young son take. Older age patients and children are unique when it comes to taking medicines.

 

Click one of the links to learn more

Counterfeit drugs are fakes. They are not produced under safe manufacturing conditions and are not inspected by regulatory authorities. They may look the same9 as a real medicine but they can contain: 10

  • No medicine at all
  • Wrong ingredients
  • Harmful ingredients
Ordering medicines over the internet from websites that are unknown or untrustworthy may be a serious counterfeit threat to patients.11 If anything seems different about the color, texture, shape or taste of your medicine, talk to your pharmacist.10
Learn how to spot the fakes and what Pfizer does to protect patients from them Details