FDA Drug Interactions: A Comprehensive Guide

The Food and Drug Administration is an operative arm of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA keeps track of which prescription drugs are legal for treatment in the U.S. as well as how these drugs interact with one another and foods. If you consume prescription drugs on a regular basis, it can be important to know how they may be interacting with other drugs you may be prescribed or with foods, which can sometimes cause an adverse reaction.

Instructions

• 1

  Access one of the drug interactions checkers available online through your web browser (see Resources).

• 2

  Write down a list of the drugs whose interactions you wish to check and search for each drug using the interactions checker.

• 3

  Check the list of interactive drugs that's generated when you search for each drug.

• 4

  Cross-reference the interactive drug list with the list of drugs you are currently taking to ensure you will not suffer any adverse reactions that may be part of an FDA-reported drug interaction.