To think the instructions should be clearer?

[Yourinmyspot]

For a start they are capsules and it says tablets on the dosage. It also just says ‘three tablets four times a day.’ Surely it should say ‘take three capsules four times a day.’

I’m not overly pedantic and certainly not the grammar police, they didn’t include a patient information leaflet either.

(There is another label that says ‘space the doses evenly through the day.’ ‘Take until the course is finished, unless you are told to stop.’) I didn’t include that bit in the photo as it had other details on it.

I’m not overly pedantic

I beg to differ.

However there absolutely should be an information leaflet.

Tablet is just another word for capsule. Are you deliberately being a bit dim or obtuse about it? If you're unsure call the GP or the Pharmacy.

It might be unclear to someone whose first language isn't English.

Buy tablets and capsules are different.

Tablet = chalky, white thing

Capsule = beads inside gelatine container thing

Tablet is not another word for capsule. I’d guess this is a case of being on autopilot and doing too much but it should be correct.

It’s actually a legal requirement to say “tablets” or “capsules”. Are they the right medication on the blister pack?

Yes tablets and capsules are different things but surely as it simply means ‘you know the things in this box? Well take three of them but at 4 different times in the day’. You’d have to be extra pedantic to not understand that is what it means.

As for patient information leaflets, if this is a new medication and not a repeat medication yes you should have had one.

I'm pedantic but couldn't get worked up about this. The instructions seem very clear.

Capsules and tablets are completely different things but it's obvious that you have 3 of whatever's in the box.

"Take" is grammatically necessary to turn the instruction into a sentence but what else would you do with them?

At least there aren't any rogue apostrophes.

There could be a suggested dosage eg "take breakfast lunch dinner and bedtime" maybe?

On the wording issue, yeah two different things.

For me it's important to distinguish. I make sure I am prescribed tablets and it's on my records to not have capsules as I'm vegetarian and don't want gelatine, and also find them hard to swallow. However, I still get given capsules occasionally by the pharmacies when 'tablets' are specified and I always return to the dispenser to correct.

It doesn’t just mean the things in this box. They may need different warnings for a start. Clindamycin doesn’t actually come as tablets as far as I can see so hopefully the warning label is correct.

Do you know which manufacturer the capsules are OP? The patient info leaflet should be online.

Yes I’ve had a look online.

Maybe a bit obtuse admittedly but tablets and capsules are different. It’s not the first time this pharmacy hasn’t put a patient information leaflet in. They also gave me the incorrect amount of tablets last time too.

It's probably the same info leaflet for both forms of it. Not worth doing separate ones for the same drug in the same dosage.

If it was dispensed from an electronic prescription, the directions will appear automatically and in the exact way that the prescription has been written and with the clunky Boots dispensing system, sometimes the dispenser can’t actually change it themselves 🙄 Very irritating, especially when a doctor writes the prescription as “1 mdu” 😂

If it was manually entered, I’d have asked for it to be changed as I was accuracy checking it.

And, if we’re being really pedantic, it should be written “Take THREE capsules FOUR times a day”.
A pharmacist I worked with during my pre-reg year said “we have to make directions as clear as possible for best practice and to ensure no patient comes to harm. Basically, treat every prescription as if the patient is a complete imbecile!” 🤦🏻‍♀️ He definitely could’ve worded it better, but he had a point!

On the subject of PILs, there should always be one included for the specific brand and form of medication. The PILs do vary between tablets and capsules, even for the same drug & strength.