The label on your orange-colored prescription drug container may be small, and occasionally hard to read because of the tiny print, but it is a most important document.
It has all the information you need about your medication, and it can be very helpful for family, friends, caregivers, and emergency responders should you ever need emergency medical attention or hospitalization.
The prescription bottle label is also a legal requirement at both federal and state level.
Understanding the label on the little orange bottle
The label or sticker on your prescription medicine bottle can be categorized into 6 sections.
Section 1: Names and addresses
Prescription bottle labels must have the name and address of each one of the below:
- Patient who needs the prescription.
- Doctor who wrote the prescription.
- Pharmacy that filled the prescription. This may include the name and/or initials of the individual pharmacist who handled the filling.
Note: Always check that your name and address, and your doctor’s name and clinic address, are correct. Misspelled names and other such errors can create problems in your electronic medical records (EMRs) and possibly with your health insurance.
Section 2: Drug details
These usually include:
- Name of the drug. This can be brand, generic, or both, depending on state law.
- Active ingredient, or the stuff that makes the drug work.
- Strength, often written in milligrams, or mg.
- Form, such as whether they are tablets, capsules, or spansules, etc.
- For chronic diseases, doctors often prescribe a month-long supply of medication, so this may be a multiple of 30. For instance, if you have to take a pill twice or thrice a day, then the bottle might have 60 or 90 pills.
Section 3: Dosage instructions and warnings
The label will state how much medication to take, how many times a day, at what time of day, and whether to take it with meals or on an empty stomach. It may also warn of possible side effects, interactions, and if patients need to take special precautions.
Section 4: Dates
Every prescription label has three very important dates:
- The earliest is the date on which the prescription was filled.
- The latest is a sort of expiration date. Discard any leftover medication when this date is reached. This is often 12 months from when the prescription is filled.
- The date somewhere in the middle indicates how much time you have left to get this particular prescription refilled. Doctors sometimes prescribe refills, and this is your cut-off date, whether you get the refills or not. After this, you will need a fresh prescription from your doctor.
Section 5: Details of the prescription itself
- The prescription number, sometimes noted as Rx number.
- Refills indicate how many times this particular prescription can be refilled by the pharmacist up to a certain date.
What is an Rx number?
The Rx number, or prescription number, identifies each individual prescription. When you call your pharmacy for a refill, this number is all you need to give them. After you have got all the refills allowed on your prescription, the Rx number will be retired and you’ll need a new prescription from your doctor.
Section 6: Legal matters
This includes:
- The DEA number, which is an official identification number assigned to the pharmacy by the US Drug Enforcement Authority (DEA).
- Federal warning prohibiting the transfer of the drug to anyone other than the intended patient whose name is on the label (another reason to make sure your name is spelled correctly!).
- Bar codes.
Ever wondered why prescriptions are denoted with ‘Rx’?
The historical understanding is that ‘Rx’ is how Roman physicians shortened the word ‘recipere’ when scribbling down instructions to concoct a medicinal formulation.
Recipere, from which we get the words ‘recipe’ and ‘receipt’, means ‘take’. The first line of Roman doctors’ instructions could therefore be ‘Rx a cup of oil…”
Over time, it became standard practice for all doctors to mark medicinal prescriptions with ‘Rx’.
Things to keep in mind with prescription drugs
- Medicines prescribed to you are for you alone. Do not share them with anyone else.
- Follow dosage instructions properly.
- Get rid of expired medication safely through a drug back program or return it to the pharmacy that filled it.
- Speak to a trusted doctor if you have any questions or concerns about your medications.
Lower drug costs with Medicare Extra Help
The cost of your prescription medicine depends on several factors, such as your Medicare plan, healthcare insurance, and the insurance provider’s formulary, or the list of drugs it covers. At times, these costs can be quite high, and 4 in 10 senior adults can’t afford the medication they need.
One way out of this situation is Medicare Extra Help, a benefits program that lets people with limited income pay less for their prescription medications. In some cases, patients may not have to pay anything at all.
Our knowledgeable Patient Relations Team can help you find out if you qualify for Medicare Extra Help, so given us a call today on (800) 941-1106.