Medication Review: What It Is, Why It Matters, and What You Need to Know

When you take more than one medication, a medication review, a structured evaluation of all the drugs a person is taking to identify risks, overlaps, and missed opportunities. Also known as drug reconciliation, it’s not just for older adults or hospital patients—it’s for anyone on multiple prescriptions, supplements, or over-the-counter drugs. Think of it like a safety audit for your medicine cabinet. One wrong combo can turn a helpful drug into a danger. Lithium and ibuprofen together? Risk of toxicity. Fiber supplements and levothyroxine? Absorption blocked. These aren’t hypotheticals—they’re real cases documented in FDA reports and clinical studies.

Medication reviews don’t just look at what’s on your list—they check how those drugs behave together. That’s where drug interactions, when two or more medications affect each other’s effectiveness or safety come in. You might not realize that your daily pain cream with lidocaine could add up dangerously if you’re also using a patch or oral version. Or that combining H2 blockers and PPIs doesn’t improve acid control—it just raises your risk of infections and nutrient loss. The adverse drug reactions, harmful, unintended effects from medications taken at normal doses aren’t always obvious. Sometimes they start as mild nausea, dizziness, or constipation. But left unchecked, they can lead to kidney injury, liver damage, or even hospitalization. That’s why tools like FDA safety reporting, the system that collects and analyzes reports of harmful side effects from patients and doctors matter. Every report you file through MedWatch adds to the data that helps doctors spot patterns before more people get hurt.

Medication reviews aren’t one-time events. They’re ongoing. A drug that was safe last year might clash with something new you started. A generic switch might seem harmless, but bioequivalence doesn’t always mean identical in your body. Even natural supplements like black cohosh or fiber pills can interfere. The good news? You don’t need to be a pharmacist to spot red flags. If you’re on three or more meds, ask your doctor or pharmacist: "Could any of these be causing my symptoms?" "Is there a simpler way to do this?" "What happens if I stop one?" The answers might surprise you—and could save your health.

Below, you’ll find real, practical guides on how to read drug labels, spot black box warnings, manage opioid side effects, avoid dangerous combos, and understand what the FDA really says about your meds. No fluff. No jargon. Just what you need to keep your medication plan safe and working.