Names of prescription drugs can be misleading when you’re traveling abroad and mistakes can happen easily. Here’s what you should do to avoid a medical emergency.
When traveling, make sure to bring your written prescriptions with you.
Also, the brand names of some medications in the U.S. do not match brand names abroad, so ask your pharmacist to write both the generic name and the brand name of your medication on the prescription label to avoid mix-ups.
For example, if you take Flomax in the United States for enlarged prostate and ask for it in Italy, the Flomax you receive won’t treat your enlarged prostate.
If you take Precose in the U.S. for diabetes and ask for it in Scandinavia, you might get Precosa, which treats antibiotic-related diarrhea.
To avoid these mistakes, check the Food and Drug Administration’s list of drugs that go by different names.
Check out our new Travel Safety Tips category.
