Tuesday, February 27, 2007; HE05

To protect against unintended drug interactions, make sure your doctors and pharmacists know "about every drug you are taking, including nonprescription drugs and any dietary supplements such as vitamins, minerals and herbals," the Food and Drug Administration Web site advises.

But that doesn't let you off the hook.

Ultimately, patients bear the onus for keeping tabs of what they take. "It is just vital that patients keep a list of the medications they're taking," said Kasey Thompson, director of patient safety at the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists.

Armed with that list, patients can call their doctor or pharmacist to ask whether it's safe to add a product. They can also do their own homework and -- as a first step -- check online for potential drug interactions. But because the alerts listed may be incomplete or not specific to your needs, it's smart to check that information with your doctor or pharmacist. Here are some free (with the exception of one site, as noted) online resources that may be useful:

American Pharmacists Association, drug information site, http://www.pharmacist.com/drug_information.cfm

American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, which offers tips and advice for using medications safely and effectively, http://www.safemedication.com

As You Age: A Guide to Aging, Medicines and Alcohol, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, http://www.asyouage.samhsa.gov/media/asyouage/asyouagebrochure01.pdf

Consumer Reports Guides to Prescription, OTC and Natural Medicines, http://www.consumerreports.org/mg/a-z-drug-index/A.htm and http://www.consumerreports.org/mg/natural-medicine/index.htm (Note: Some pages on the Consumer Reports site require a paid subscription.)

Drug Interactions: What you should know, FDA, http://www.fda.gov/cder/consumerinfo/druginte3.pdf

Drugs@FDA, a database offering detailed information about all drugs approved by the FDA, http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cder/drugsatfda

Be an Active Member of Your Health Care Team, an FDA presentation, http://www.fda.gov/cder/consumerinfo/Be-An-Active-Member-2005.pdf

My Medicines, a form for listing your medications and supplements, http://www.fda.gov/cder/consumerinfo/mymeds.pdf

Herb and Drug Interactions, Mayo Clinic, http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/herbal-supplements/SA00039

Your Medicine: Play It Safe, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, http://www.ahrq.gov/consumer/safemeds/safemeds.htm

About.com List, http://www.thyroid.about.com/library/drugs/blinteractionchecker.htm

Caremark, http://www.caremark.com; click on Drug Interactions under the heading Health Resources

Discovery Health, http://www.health.discovery.com; search for "drug interaction"

Drugs.com, http://www.drugs.com/drug_interactions.html

Drugstore.com, http://www.drugstore.com/pharmacy/drugchecker

Eckerd, http://www.eckerd.com; click on Pharmacy, then select Drug Interaction Tool

Express Scripts, http://www.drugdigest.org; click on Check Interactions

Medscape, http://www.medscape.com; search for "drug interaction checker"

University of Maryland Medical Center, http://www.umm.edu/adam/drug_checker.htm

Walgreens, http://www.walgreens.com/help/hy_cdi.jsp (Requires free site registration.)

Wal-Mart, http://www.walmart.com/pharmacy; click on Learn About Drug Interactions under heading Health & Drug Information

-- January W. Payne