What is required on all prescription labels?

The requirement for all prescription labels to include directions for use and precautions stems from the necessity to ensure patient safety and proper medication management. Directions for use inform the patient on how to effectively take the medication, including dosage, frequency, and methods of administration. Precautions highlight important safety information, such as potential side effects or interactions with other medications, alerting the patient to issues they should be aware of while using the medication.

While having an expiration date is important for medication quality, it is only sometimes specifically mandated to be printed on the prescription label itself. Similarly, knowing the patient's insurance provider is useful for billing and reimbursement purposes, but it is not a federally mandated requirement on the label. Including only the generic name does not provide the full context of the prescribed medication, as the label should reflect more comprehensive information beneficial to the patient for safe and effective medication use. Therefore, the inclusion of directions for use and precautions is essential and serves to promote safe medication practices.