Confusion over medicines needs to be prevented

Only 37 per cent of the public trust evidence from medical research compared to 65 per cent who trust the experiences of friends and family, a new report reveals.

The report, published by the Academy of Medical Sciences, outlines the difficulties patients and some healthcare professionals face in using evidence from research to evaluate the benefits and harms of medicines, and calls for action to improve the information patients receive. It was instigated following public debate around the benefits and harms of treatments, and calls for action to be taken - including significant improvements to patient information leaflets, improved use of medical appointments and a bigger role for NHS Choices as the primary source of trusted information online for patients, carers and healthcare professionals.

Patient information leaflets, found inside the packets of all medicines, were described as ‘impenetrable’ and ‘unreadable’ by the public.

Report Chair, Professor Sir John Tooke FMedSci, said: “It is startling to hear that only about a third of the public trust medical research, and that patients are struggling to make sense of the information they receive from their doctor, the TV, the internet and their friends and family about medicines. With our ageing population and ever more sophisticated treatments being made available, we need to act now to give patients clearer and more useful information about the medicines they take.”