Medicines (Print Version)

MedlinePlus Health Information: A service of the National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health

Medicines

URL of this page: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/medicines.html

Latest News

Tuberculosis Relapse Cause Found (11/15/2004, United Press International) - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_21292.html (*this news item will not be available after 12/15/2004)
Nebulizers Improve Asthma Outcomes in Kids (11/15/2004, Reuters Health) - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_21277.html (*this news item will not be available after 12/15/2004)
US FDA Allows Tracking Tags on Drug Bottles (11/15/2004, Reuters Health) - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_21284.html (*this news item will not be available after 12/15/2004)
FDA Issues Public Health Advisory on Vioxx as Its Manufacturer Voluntarily Withdraws the Product (09/30/2004, Food and Drug Administration) - http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/news/2004/NEW01122.html
Many Chronically Ill Patients Don't Tell Their Doctors That They Limit Use of Prescription Drugs Because of Cost (09/13/2004, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality) - http://www.ahrq.gov/news/press/pr2004/chrcostpr.htm
More News on Medicines - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/alphanews_m.html#Medicines

From the National Institutes of Health

MedlinePlus: Drug Information (American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, United States Pharmacopeial Convention) - Information on prescription and over-the-counter medications - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginformation.html

Overviews

Be an Active Member of Your Health Care Team (Center for Drug Evaluation and Research) - http://www.fda.gov/cder/consumerinfo/active12panelEng.htm
Also available in Spanish - http://www.fda.gov/cder/consumerinfo/active12panelSpa.htm
Consumer Drug Information (Food and Drug Administration) - basic information about recently approved medications - http://www.fda.gov/cder/consumerinfo/default.htm
Just Ask! A Dozen Questions to Help You Understand Your Medicines (United States Pharmacopeial Convention) - Links to PDF File - http://www.usp.org/pdf/patientSafety/justAskDozenQs.pdf
Think It Through: A Guide to Managing the Benefits and Risks of Medicines (Center for Drug Evaluation and Research) - http://www.fda.gov/cder/consumerinfo/think.htm
Also available in Spanish - http://www.fda.gov/cder/consumerinfo/think_Spanish.htm
Use Medicine Safely (Food and Drug Administration) - http://www.fda.gov/opacom/lowlit/medsafe.html
Also available in Spanish - http://www.fda.gov/opacom/lowlit/medicina.html
Your Medicine: Play it Safe (Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality) - http://www.ahrq.gov/consumer/safemeds/safemeds.htm
Also available in Spanish - http://www.ahrq.gov/consumer/safemedsp/safemedsp.htm

Specific Conditions

Chronic Pain Medicines (American Academy of Family Physicians) - http://familydoctor.org/122.xml
Also available in Spanish - http://familydoctor.org/e122.xml
Drug Interactions: What You Should Know (Center for Drug Evaluation and Research) - http://www.fda.gov/cder/consumerinfo/druginteractions.htm
Also available in Spanish - http://www.fda.gov/cder/consumerinfo/druginteractions-spanish.htm
Drug Reactions (American Academy of Family Physicians) - http://familydoctor.org/231.xml
Enteric Coating: What Is It? (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) - http://www.mayoclinic.com/invoke.cfm?id=AN00451
Frequently Asked Questions to Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (Center for Drug Evaluation and Research) - http://www.fda.gov/cder/about/faq/default.htm
Generic Drugs: Questions and Answers (Food and Drug Administration) - http://www.fda.gov/cder/consumerinfo/generics_q&a.htm;
Harmful Interactions: Mixing Alcohol with Medicines (National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism) - http://www.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/Medicine/medicine.htm
Also available in Spanish - http://www.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/MedSpanish/medicine.htm
Health Hints: Use Caution with Pain Relievers (Center for Drug Evaluation and Research) - http://www.fda.gov/cder/drug/analgesics/healthhints.htm
Just Ask!...About Tips against Tampering (United States Pharmacopeial Convention) - Links to PDF File - http://www.usp.org/pdf/patientSafety/justAskTampering.pdf
Request a Brown-Bag Check-Up (Institute for Safe Medication Practices) - http://www.ismp.org/Consumer/BrownBag.html
Steroid Medicines: How to Stop Safely (American Academy of Family Physicians) - http://familydoctor.org/102.xml
Also available in Spanish - http://familydoctor.org/e102.xml
Steroid Use: Balancing the Risks and Benefits (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) - http://www.mayoclinic.com/invoke.cfm?id=HQ01431
Treat Medication Samples with Respect (Institute for Safe Medication Practices) - http://www.ismp.org/Consumer/Samples.html
Your Medicine Cabinet Needs an Annual Checkup, Too (Food and Drug Administration) - http://www.fda.gov/fdac/features/2000/200_med.html

Prevention/Screening

Therapeutic Drug Monitoring (American Association for Clinical Chemistry) - http://www.labtestsonline.org/understanding/analytes/thdm/glance.html

Related Issues

Buying Prescription Medicines Online: A Consumer Safety Guide (Center for Drug Evaluation and Research) - http://www.fda.gov/cder/consumerinfo/buyOnlineGuide.htm
FDA Issues Public Health Advisory on Vioxx as Its Manufacturer Voluntarily Withdraws the Product (Food and Drug Administration) - http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/news/2004/NEW01122.html
Giving a Subcutaneous Injection (National Institutes of Health, Clinical Center) - Links to PDF File - http://www.cc.nih.gov/ccc/patient_education/pepubs/subq.pdf
Also available in Spanish - http://www.cc.nih.gov/ccc/patient_education/pepubs_sp/subqsp.pdf
Impact of Direct-to-Consumer Advertising (Food and Drug Administration) - http://www.fda.gov/fdac/features/2003/203_dtc.html
Medications and You (American Society of Health-System Pharmacists) - http://www.safemedication.com/meds/medSafety.cfm
Prescriptions and Insurance Plans (American Academy of Family Physicians) - http://familydoctor.org/735.xml
Also available in Spanish - http://familydoctor.org/e735.xml
Things You Should Know about Purchasing Medications from Outside the United States (Center for Drug Evaluation and Research) - http://www.fda.gov/cder/consumerinfo/border.htm
Also available in Spanish - http://www.fda.gov/cder/consumerinfo/borderSpanish.htm
Truth in Advertising: Rx Drug Ads Come of Age (Food and Drug Administration) - http://www.fda.gov/fdac/features/2004/404_ads.html
Why Drugs Get Pulled Off the Market (Food and Drug Administration) - http://www.fda.gov/fdac/features/2002/102_drug.html

Research

Medicines by Design (National Institute of General Medical Sciences) - http://www.nigms.nih.gov/medbydesign/
New Medicines in Development (Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America) - http://www.phrma.org/newmedicines/
Outpatient Prescription Drug-Related Injuries Are Common in Older Patients, but Many Can Be Prevented (Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality) - http://www.ahrq.gov/news/press/pr2003/gurwitzpr.htm
Also available in Spanish - http://www.ahrq.gov/news/press/pr2003/spgurwpr.htm
Quality of Pharmacologic Care for Older Adults in Two Managed Care Organizations (American College of Physicians) - http://www.annals.org/cgi/content/full/140/9/I-52
Significant Increases in Drug Co-Payments May Reduce Patients' Use of Needed Medications (Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality) - http://www.ahrq.gov/news/press/pr2004/drugcopapr.htm
U.S. Generic Drugs Cost Less Than Canadian Drugs (Food and Drug Administration) - http://www.fda.gov/fdac/features/2004/404_generic.html

Directories

Prescription Drug and Other Assistance Programs (Including Medicare-Approved Drug Discount Cards) (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services) - http://www.medicare.gov/AssistancePrograms/home.asp?

Organizations

Center for Drug Evaluation and Research - http://www.fda.gov/cder/
Food and Drug Administration - http://www.fda.gov/
Institute for Safe Medication Practices - http://www.ismp.org/
Poison Help 1-800-222-1222 (American Association of Poison Control Centers) - http://www.1-800-222-1222.info/poisonHelp.asp
SafeMedication.com (American Society of Health-System Pharmacists) - http://www.safemedication.com/

Law and Policy

Medicaid Drug Rebate Program (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services) - http://www.cms.hhs.gov/medicaid/drugs/drughmpg.asp
Pharmacy Compounding: Customizing Prescription Drugs (Food and Drug Administration) - http://www.fda.gov/fdac/features/2000/400_compound.html

Financial Issues

U.S./Canadian Price Comparisons October 2004 (Food and Drug Administration) - http://www.fda.gov/oc/opacom/hottopics/importdrugs/canadarx.html

Children

Common Prescription Medications (American Academy of Pediatrics) - http://www.medem.com/MedLB/article_detaillb.cfm?article_ID=ZZZ7U23YQ7C⊂_cat=27
Got a Sick Kid? Don’t Guess. Read the Label (Food and Drug Administration) - http://www.fda.gov/cder/consumerinfo/sickkids.htm
Also available in Spanish - http://www.fda.gov/cder/consumerinfo/sickkids-spanish.htm
How to Give Medicine to Children (Food and Drug Administration) - http://www.fda.gov/opacom/lowlit/medchld.html
Also available in Spanish - http://www.fda.gov/opacom/lowlit/smedchld.html
Teaching Children about Medicines (United States Pharmacopeial Convention) - http://www.usp.org/drugInformation/children/parents.html
What Medicines Are and What They Do (Nemours Foundation) - http://kidshealth.org/kid/feel_better/things/kidmedic.html
Your Child and Medication (National Institute of Mental Health) - http://www.nimh.nih.gov/publicat/childmed.cfm

Teenagers

Understanding Medications and What They Do (Nemours Foundation) - http://kidshealth.org/teen/your_body/medical_care/meds.html

Seniors

As You Age...A Guide to Aging, Medicines, and Alcohol (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration) - Links to PDF File - http://media.shs.net/asyouage/asyouagebrochure01.pdf
Medicare-Approved Drug Discount Card Tip Sheet (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services) - Links to PDF File - http://www.medicare.gov/Publications/Pubs/pdf/11071.pdf
Medicines and Older Adults (Food and Drug Administration) - http://www.fda.gov/opacom/lowlit/medold.html
Also available in Spanish - http://www.fda.gov/opacom/lowlit/smedold.html
Medicines and You: A Guide for Older Adults (Food and Drug Administration) - http://www.fda.gov/cder/consumerinfo/medandyoueng.htm
Also available in Spanish - http://www.fda.gov/cder/consumerinfo/medandyouspan.htm
Medicines: Use Them Safely (National Institute on Aging) - http://www.niapublications.org/engagepages/medicine.asp
Also available in Spanish - http://www.niapublications.org/spnagepages/medicines-sp.asp

Other Languages

My Medicines (Food and Drug Administration) - In Chinese - http://vm.cfsan.fda.gov/%7Efdaowh/Meds_Chi.html

You may also be interested in these MedlinePlus related pages:

Alternative Medicine - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/alternativemedicine.html
Antibiotics - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/antibiotics.html
Cancer Chemotherapy - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/cancerchemotherapy.html
Drug and Medical Device Safety - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/drugandmedicaldevicesafety.html
Herbal Medicine - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/herbalmedicine.html
Over-the-Counter Medicines - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/overthecountermedicines.html
Vitamins and Minerals - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/vitaminsandminerals.html
Drug Therapy - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/drugtherapy.html

Page last updated: 16 November 2004
Topic last reviewed: 26 September 2004