Getting a new prescription can be overwhelming: medication schedules, foods to eat or avoid, interactions between different drugs. Having all of these details in accessible, printed documents keeps patients informed and mitigates the risk of medication errors.
However, there’s a growing movement across the world to eliminate printed medication information, making it harder for patients to learn about the drugs that, in many cases, save their lives. The U.S. must resist the urge to follow suit.
Recently, French health authorities announced a new plan to send patients home with QR codes linked to medication information for commonly prescribed, lifesaving drugs. Other nations have or are now exploring policies themselves. Lawmakers seem to think that printed medication information is obsolete in the digital era and feel that using QR codes is an easy way to “go green.” The U.S. may be following suit: The FDA recently proposed a rule that would promote digital patient medication information while limiting access to traditional printed versions. But this rule ignores the significant public health risks of digitizing medication information.