The label on a prescription medicine bottle in my home has the following text in large bold letters: TAKE 1 CAPSULE BY MOUTH.
I'm all for reasonable labels (e.g. warning, caution, ingredients, directions), but this one seems so obvious.
Why obvious? The medication is in capsule form and the bright orange sticker affixed to the bottle clearly indicates "for oral use only."
You know, capsules, those small "solid dosage form[s] in which the drug is enclosed in a hard or soft soluble container, usually of a form of gelatin." (http://www.medterms.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=11933, retrieved March 2009)
You know, oral, as in "taken through the mouth." (http://www.thefreedictionary.com/oral)
I suppose directions like this are necessary (unfortunately), because someone, somewhere, put oral medication into their ear, nose, or anus.
Or possibly all three.
I don't even want to know what people like this do with a toothbrush.
© Copyright 2009 Christopher V. DeRobertis. All rights reserved.
