How to actually read a medicine label

Two boxes with different brand names can contain exactly the same medicine. The label tells you that, if you know where to look.

Composition is the real name

The brand name is marketing. The composition line — for example "Paracetamol 650mg" — is what the medicine actually is. Two products with the same composition and strength are therapeutically the same, whatever the price difference.

Strength matters as much as the name

The same molecule at a different strength is a different medicine. Check the milligrams against your prescription every time, particularly with blood pressure and diabetes medicines where several strengths sit side by side on a shelf.

Expiry and batch

Expiry is the last date the manufacturer guarantees full potency. The batch number matters if a product is ever recalled — keep the carton until the strip is finished.

Storage line

"Store below 25°C" is not decoration. Insulin, some antibiotics and a few eye preparations lose potency quickly outside their range.