November 16, 2010
Product recalls. Nutrition labels. Informed consent documents. Patient package inserts. Lots of people spend a lot of time designing these messages. Yet, research shows that far too often, no one reads them. Of course, one reason we don’t read them is because the print is so small, we need a magnifying glass to see what it says. Other times, we take for granted that the product wouldn’t be available if it was going to be harmful. Still other times, we need to add up the content of product labels to know how much we are really getting. Too much of an ingredient, such as aspirin, can cause serious health problems and may occur because aspirin is included in creams being used for joint pain or products being used to treat cold symptoms or any number of other combinations of things being used that individually do not pose a risk but combined can even be deadly.
Warning labels provide another way that policmakers are trying to assure that we have information to protect our health. Warning labels are designed to get our attention with a signal work about a hazard: caution, danger, or often–warning. The label also includes a statement about what makes the product risky. For example, if it contains alcohol, then it may be flammable. If it contains an herb, it may interact with prescribed medication or the drug to be used for your medical procedure. The label may also include a way to avoid the harm, such as talking with your doctor about using the product. And it may include content about outcomes that could occur, although these may be worded abstractly, such as–“adverse reaction”–meaning what exactly?
In the end, it is still up to us. Policies give us the chance to gain some information. They can’t make us read the labels and use them to make decisions…
