Health Tips for September 8

Health Tip: Help Prevent Medical Errors

As many as 98,000 people die every year because of medical errors, an Institute of Medicine report estimates, but there are steps you can take to protect your health.

The American Academy of Family Physicians offers these suggestions:

• Give your doctors as much information as you can about the medications, supplements and herbs you are taking.
• Tell your doctors about any known allergies or reactions you have to medications.
• Keep your doctors informed about your health. Don't assume they already know this.
• Make sure you are fully informed about any medicine your doctor prescribes, including what it's for, instructions for taking it, safety and side effects.
• If your doctor writes a prescription, make sure you can read what's written. Illegible prescriptions may cause problems at the pharmacy.

Health Tip: Have Unused Medications?

While flushing unwanted or expired medications down the toilet is common practice, Health Canada says this may harm the environment.

Here's how to properly dispose of medications:

• Check to see if your pharmacy has a drug recycling program.
• See if your municipality incinerates drugs. If so, take your unused medications to your municipality's waste disposal depot.
• At least once a year, go through your medicine cabinet and remove prescription drugs that are old or that you no longer take. Dispose of them as suggested above.