Prescriptions and medicines
Medicine leaflet explainer
The leaflet folded inside a medicine box is long, printed small and written in regulatory language. Paste the section you are trying to understand below and it is restated in ordinary words, one point at a time.
Explain your medicine leaflet
- 1. Add itDrop a PDF, take a photo or paste the text.
- 2. Check itPersonal details are removed on your device. You approve what is sent.
- 3. Read itSummary, table of results, terms and questions to ask.
The explainer opens on its own page with no adverts and no outside scripts. Your file is read on your device and is never uploaded.
What you get
- Each instruction or warning in the section on its own row.
- Frequency words for side effects, such as common and rare, turned into numbers as the leaflet defines them.
- Terms such as contraindication, interaction and excipient defined.
- Questions to ask your pharmacist.
Sections of a typical leaflet
- What the medicine is and what it is used for
- What you need to know before you take itWho should not take it, and warnings
- How to take itThe usual instructions, and what to do about a missed dose
- Possible side effects, grouped by how often they occur
- How to store it
- ContentsThe active ingredient and the other ingredients
What this tool cannot tell you
A leaflet is written for everyone who might take the medicine, so much of it will not apply to you, and your prescriber's instructions take priority over the general ones. MedicDecode restates the leaflet. It does not tell you whether to take a medicine, how much to take, or whether a symptom is a side effect. Leaflets are long, so paste one section at a time.
Common questions
What do common, uncommon and rare mean for side effects?
Leaflets that follow the European convention define them: very common is more than 1 in 10 people, common up to 1 in 10, uncommon up to 1 in 100, rare up to 1 in 1,000 and very rare up to 1 in 10,000.
What is a contraindication?
A situation in which the medicine should not be used, such as an allergy to one of its ingredients.
The leaflet lists a frightening side effect. Should I stop the medicine?
Do not stop a prescribed medicine because of a leaflet or an explanation here. Speak to your pharmacist or doctor, and seek urgent help if you think you are having a serious reaction.
Words you may see on this report
Tap a word for its plain-English meaning, an example line and what it does not mean.
- Contraindication
A contraindication is a reason not to use a particular medicine, test or procedure for a person because it could cause harm.
- Side Effect vs Adverse Reaction
A side effect is any effect of a medicine beyond the one intended; an adverse reaction is an unwanted, harmful response to a medicine.
- Adjunctive therapy
Adjunctive therapy is a medicine or treatment added to another main treatment to help it work better.
- Allergy alert
An allergy alert is a warning on an over-the-counter medicine label about allergic reactions the ingredient can cause, and what to do if one happens.
- BID, TID and QID
BID, TID and QID are abbreviations on prescriptions meaning twice a day, three times a day and four times a day.
- Bioequivalent
Bioequivalent means two versions of a medicine deliver the same active ingredient into the blood at about the same rate and amount.
- Boxed warning
A boxed warning is the strongest safety warning on a US medicine label, printed in a box, about a serious or life-threatening risk.
- Caplet
A caplet is a tablet shaped like a capsule: smooth, oblong and often coated, so it is easier to swallow. It is still a solid tablet.
- Controlled substance
A controlled substance is a medicine or drug whose making, prescribing and supply are tightly regulated by law because it can be misused or cause dependence.
- Course of treatment
A course of treatment is the full planned period of taking a medicine, such as a set number of days of antibiotics.
- Excessive moisture
On a medicine label, 'protect from excessive moisture' is a storage instruction: keep the product dry so it does not break down or lose strength.
- Extended-Release
Extended-release means a medicine is designed to release its active ingredient slowly over many hours, so it is often taken less often.