Standards for patient-friendly container labels released

Abstract

The United States Pharmacopeial Convention (USP) recently unveiled universal standards for prescription drug container labels that are intended to make it easier for patients to take their medications as prescribed. The two-page document was unveiled in October and is officially known as United States Pharmacopeia (USP) chapter 17, “Prescription Container Labeling.” “The whole approach was to focus on what was most important for the patient,” said Gerald K. McEvoy, ASHP's assistant vice president for drug information. McEvoy is cochair of the USP Health Literacy and Prescription Container Labeling Advisory Panel, a group of independent experts who developed the new standards. According to USP, the standards provide, for the first time, “a universal approach to the format, appearance, content and language of instructions for medicines in containers dispensed by pharmacists.” The standards emphasize patient-friendly elements such as prominent placement of the most important information and the use of clear, simplified language and explicit instructions. The standards also address legibility by requiring high-contrast print, a large font size for critical information, and prudent use of white space.