The Variability and Quality of Medication Container Labels

In the Archives of Internal Medicine this week discussing the problem of labels on medication prescription bottles there was substantial variation in the font size of different items. The largest item on 71 (84%) of the labels was the pharmacy logo. The mean font size was 13.6 point for the pharmacy logo, 9.3 point for medication instructions, and 8.9 point for drug name. Auxiliary instructions and warning stickers were a mean 6.5-point font. As one ages, and are more likely to need a prescription, your eysight deteriorates making reading prescription labels more difficult!