12 March 2009

Each year 140,000 people are hospitalised because of adverse events relating to medicine. Many of these cases could be avoided if people had a better understanding of how their medicines work.

To help people get to know their medicines, the National Prescribing Service Ltd (NPS) has developed an online tool, NPS Medicine Name Finder, which identifies the active ingredient* in a prescription medicine and the brand names it is known as.

Launched at Parliament House in Canberra today by the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Health and Ageing, Senator Jan McLucas, the NPS Medicine Name Finder is NPS’ debut in online social innovation products.

“This unique tool has been designed to help people learn how to quickly and accurately identify important information about prescription medicines. Understanding your medicines can help reduce the likelihood of an adverse event and enable you to have informed discussions with health professionals about managing your health,” NPS CEO, Dr Lynn Weekes said.

When a brand name is entered into the NPS Medicine Name Finder, the active ingredient name appears and vice versa when the active ingredient name is entered. Consumers are then prompted to record their medicine details on a downloadable Medicines List or print the information to discuss it with their health professional. A link is also provided to the Consumer Medicine Information (CMI) leaflet which contains more details about the medicine.

“Some medicines are known by a number of different names. The NPS Medicine Name Finder will help both consumers and health professionals quickly identify which active ingredients are marketed under which brand names,” Dr Weekes said.

The data supporting the online tool is provided by the Pharmaceutical Benefits Division of the Department of Health and Ageing and updated monthly. It does not cover over-the-counter, natural or herbal medicines, nor medicines not listed on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme.

The NPS Medicine Name Finder is available to both consumers and health professionals at www.nps.org.au/medicine_name_finder.

For specific advice about your medicines speak to your doctor or pharmacist.

NPS Medicine Name Finder has been funded by the Department of Health and Ageing as part of the Generic medicines are an equal choice campaign.

ENDS

* The active ingredient is what provides the therapeutic effect, i.e. makes the medicine work in the body. Sometimes medicines are marketed as their active ingredient name but other times as a brand name.