Compliance Towards Dispensed Medication Labelling Standards: A Cross-Sectional Study in the State of Penang, Malaysia

Good medicine labelling practice is vital to ensure safe use of medicines. Non-compliance to labelling standards is a potential source of medication errors. This study was intended to evaluate and compare compliance towards labelling standard for dispensed medications between community pharmacists and general practitioners in Penang, Malaysia. A total of 128 community pharmacies and 26 general practitioners' clinics were visited. Using ‘Simulated Client Method’ (SCM), data were collected on the medications dispensed upon presentation of hypothetical common cold symptoms. The medications dispensed were evaluated for labelling adequacy. Result revealed that majority of the dispensed medications obtained were not labelled according to regulatory requirements. However, general practitioners complied better than community pharmacists in terms of labelling for: name of patient (p<0.001), details of supplier (p<0.001), dosage of medication (p=0.023), frequency to take medication (p=0.023), patient's reference number (p<0.001), date of supply (p<0.001), special instructions for medication (p=0.008), storage requirements (p=0.002), and indication for medication (p<0.001). Conversely, community pharmacists labelled dispensed medications with the words “Controlled Medicine” more often than did general practitioners (p<0.001). Although laws for labelling dispensed medicines are in place, most community pharmacists and general practitioners did not comply accordingly, thereby putting patients' safety at risks of medication errors.