Read the OTC Medicine Label? Really?

Worrying is one thing, acting sensibly is another. Forty-eight percent of respondents to a newly released Synovate poll said they “worry about taking any medicines that haven’t been prescribed by a doctor.” But this doesn’t stop 59 percent from taking over-the-counter medicines “without properly reading the label or following the directions.” Cough/cold drugs led the list of OTC remedies respondents bought in the six months before the poll was fielded in December (58 percent had done so), trailed by pain relievers (51 percent).