Unclear pharmaceutical labels could be causing people to unwittingly take overdoses of their medication, one expert has claimed.
Professor Shane Carney from John Hunter Hospital in Newcastle, Australia, said in an article for the Medical Journal of Australia he has seen both patients and doctors fall foul of confusion, ABC News reports.
He explained that companies producing alternative drugs to traditional brand names are causing a flood of similar product on the market which are actually made of the same ingredients.
"People will take one medication, then they'll be prescribed the same medication, go to a different pharmacy and they'll get a different name," Professor Carney pointed out.
This could lead to people taking the same medication twice and taking in more than the recommended dosage.
He has called for a new system to be brought in that makes the active ingredients in drugs more prominent on pharma labels, perhaps with special colours and fonts.
Dr Valerie Fishbeck, a clinical pharmacy specialist, recently told the Dearborn Press and Guide she is concerned that old people may not be taking drugs correctly because they do not understand the labels.
Denny Bros Ltd, 9 December 2011
