Hello, I'm Dr. Len Lichtenfeld. I am pleased to welcome you to the National Council on Patient Information and Education (NCPIE) web site.

NCPIE is a coalition of over 125 diverse organizations whose mission is to stimulate and improve communication of information on appropriate medicine use to consumers and healthcare professionals. NCPIE is the nation's leading authority for informing the general public and health care professionals on safe medicine use through better communication. Better medicine communication can lead to better health outcomes and improved quality of life.

Today, consumers are more responsible than ever before for their own decisions - especially when it comes to taking care of their health. For more than 25 years, NCPIE has been at the forefront in promoting information sharing among consumers, prescribers, pharmacists, and other healthcare professionals.

Two out of every three visits to the doctor ends with a prescription being written. Over 3.5 billion prescriptions are dispensed yearly. While taking medicines is very common, it's not always easy to take them the way we should. Too often, medicines that we know can help save lives and prevent illness are either not taken as directed, stopped too soon, or in some cases not taken at all.

It is important for all of us to understand what medicines we are taking, why we are taking them, as well as the side effects of our medicines. Medicines don't help if we don't understand why we need them, and how and when to take them.

As a medical oncologist, I am particularly aware that many of the new, effective cancer medicines can be taken in pills at home. But, just like other long term treatments for chronic diseases, cancer patients also often don't follow directions for taking their pills correctly. Doctors are just beginning to understand this is a very serious problem that we need to address if these new cancer drugs are going to provide benefits for our patients.

Through our web site www.talkaboutrx.org, NCPIE helps consumers make sound decisions about a very important part of good health: use of medicines. Our goal is to provide helpful information which supports consumers' safe medicine use.

Prescriptions aren't the only medicines that people take. Many drugs that in the past were available only through a doctor's prescription can now be purchased directly by consumers without a prescription in drug and grocery stores and other retail outlets. The use of these "over the counter" (or OTC) medicines along with dietary supplements and vitamins is growing rapidly. Like any drug, OTC medicines and dietary supplements should be taken with care.

That's why in 2002, NCPIE launched the national "Be MedWise" campaign (www.bemedwise.org). This program supports the safe use of OTC medicines. When Surgeon General Dr. Richard Carmona signed his "Be MedWise" prescription in September 2003, he referred to it as "the most important prescription I have ever written.""Be MedWise," along with every other NCPIE campaign and message, promotes safe medicine use by focusing on the "3Rs": Risk, Respect, and Responsibility

• Ask questions about instructions for use, precautions, and side effects whenever a new medicine is prescribed.
  
• Share information with doctors, pharmacists, nurses and other health care professionals about other prescription and all OTC medicines and dietary supplements you are taking.
  
• Keep a current list of all the medicines you are taking, including prescription and OTC medicines. Include dietary supplements, herbal remedies and vitamins too. Be sure to show the list to your healthcare professional at every visit.
  
• Read carefully any written information that comes with the medicine, and save it for future reference.

This site provides information to help you make the most of your role as a key player on what NCPIE calls the "medicine education team." In turn, knowing what questions to ask and what to tell about your medicines helps you take charge of your health.

We encourage you to bookmark our web sites at www.talkaboutrx.org, www.bemedwise.org and our newest site www.mustforseniors.org and visit them regularly. Also, please share your comments about these sites so that we can continue to provide the best information to support your interests or needs.

Sincerely, Len Lichtenfeld, MD, MACP. NCPIE Chairman and Deputy Chief Medical Officer American Cancer Society