[A pile of drugs that are easily found in many households today. Photo courtesy of Young Seo Yoon]

Many of us have accumulated large amounts of over-the-counter drugs in our homes, including all kinds of medications.. These piles of drugs may give us a sense of security from many potential aches and illnesses, but we have to be able to choose the right ones. While we are familiar with the well-known Tylenol and Advil, we often fail to recognize some of the drugs within the myriad of drugs and consuming unknown drugs can be dangerous, even fatal. Similar to food products, drugs also have expiration dates, and each particular drug must be taken using the correct method. To find information on drugs that we can’t easily identify, we have to search online or read the information and guidelines that are often provided on the packaging. However, this is easier said than done for the elderly and foreigners. Although some drugs have clear instructions and information on the packaging, many of them come with  information written in very small letters or even on a piece of paper inside the box, which can be easily lost.

[Expired Tylenol found at home. Photo courtesy of Young Seo Yoon]

After searching my house, I was able to find a few over-the-counter drugs stacked in the kitchen cabinet. Some of them had expiration dates and instructions on the packaging, but others did not provide any useful information on their packaging. Instead, instructions were written on a small piece of paper that was stuck inside the packaging of the medicine. That small piece of paper was filled with information written in very small letters, making it extremely difficult to read. For the elderly, who often struggle with poor eyesight, or foreigners, who are unfamiliar with Korean writing, this tiny text could pose more danger than other risks related to the medication. Although most over-the-counter drugs, which do not require a prescription from a licensed doctor, are not strong enough to pose an immediate risk to one’s life if misused, the unclear instructions could potentially lead to mistakes that aggravate the user’s condition or render the drug completely useless. I wondered if clearer instructions were given to customers when actually purchasing these drugs at a pharmacy.

[Photo of the writer carefully listening to dosage information and instructions from a local pharmacist. Photo courtesy of Kevin Kim]

Fortunately, during my visit to the Chungdam Onnuri Pharmacy, I was able to receive detailed information that was thoroughly explained by the pharmacist. She told me about the appropriate dosages of the drugs as well as the potential side effects that one may experience after taking them. Moreover, she kindly wrote the instructions on how to take these drugs on the packaging, making them much more legible. However, aches and illnesses don’t come with such instructions. While most people visit a pharmacy or hospital when they feel sick, not everyone is able to do so in every circumstance. Hence, I tried to think of different ways that instructions for over-the-counter medicine could be made more legible and universal for consumers. 

[Photo of a local pharmacist’s instruction. Photo courtesy of Young Seo Yoon]

What if over-the-counter medicine had a unified design? What if the information was written in large letters or in English for foreigners? If instructions were written in a more legible manner, consumers would definitely benefit from being able to correctly identify drugs and use them as intended. Furthermore, increasing the reliability of over-the-counter medicine in this way would offer greater safety for tourists and the elderly.

Although some may argue that unifying the design of over-the-counter medicine could be questionable from a business perspective, they must not overlook the true purpose of over-the-counter drugs which is providing people with a reliable source of medicine without having to visit a professional for treatment. And over-the-counter medicines can only serve that purpose when people are able to use them correctly. In the future, I hope to see more efforts made in the pharmaceutical industry to improve instructions for and information on different over-the-counter medicine. With clearer instructions, I strongly believe that our society would be a much safer and healthier one.

 









Young Seo Yoon
Grade 11
The Oklahoma School of Science and Mathematics

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