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Physical

How to read a medicine label

A long read

The wall of tiny print

You stand in the drugstore aisle.

A cold-medicine box sits in your hand. Tiny print covers one side. You squint. The words look like a wall. That little box has a name. It is the Drug Facts label.

Drug Facts label
The standard info box on U.S. over-the-counter medicines. The FDA requires it.

Every over-the-counter medicine in the U.S. carries one.

over-the-counter
Medicine you can buy without a prescription. People shorten it to OTC.

Sources

  • Poison Control, 'Over-the-counter (OTC) drug labels'
  • FDA recommended warning for acetaminophen products
  • FDA / 21 CFR § 201.326 alcohol warning
  • GoodRx, “Demystifying OTC Medicine Labels”