Drugs are extremely important in the management of almost every illness but they can be expensive and at times dangerous. There are many things a patient can do to improve drug safety:

  1. Keep a list of all medications and keep a copy in your wallet or purse. If you use a computer and have access to the Internet you can set up your own personal health record online by using a program like Google Health

  2. Remember to add any over-the-counter or herbal medications to your list

  3. If you have a liver or kidney problem be sure the medications you are on do not worsen either condition. Also learn how the medication is excreted out of the body. If you have a kidney problem, as an example and the drug is excreted through the kidneys the drug could build up and make you sick.

  4. To learn more about how drugs work, side effects and drug to drug interactions consider these sites: