Marketing claims and brand names still overshadow critical fine print on nonprescription medications, Michigan State University researchers found in a recent study examining the effectiveness of two required warnings on over-the-counter (OTC) medications—specifically, their relative prominence and conspicuousness.
“We wanted to quantify how well warning statements in over-the-counter drug packaging were working to convey information to consumers,” explains Laura Bix, an assistant professor in the MSU School of Packaging, and the study’s lead author. “To be effective, warnings about the lack of a child-resistant feature or those that alert consumers to potential tampering of the product need to be read and comprehended at the time of purchase.”
Bix’s study can be viewed at the Proceedings of the National Academies of Science Web site at www.pnas.org this week.
