A final problem that I want to talk about is making drug taking as easy as possible, especially for the elder patient. Fortunately, a lot of the drugs we have today are being dosed on a once-daily basis. That's certainly easier than the old days when we've had tid or qid dosing regimens.

But I'm reminded of the patient I saw one time who brought me a box of medications from her doctor. And I read the box, and on the outside it said: "Instructions: Take a fuschia and dark blue one before breakfast, a pale green between 10 and 11 a.m., a capsule at 4 p.m., two whites and one bright red after supper, one square and two small browns at bedtime," all with a large glass of water. And there was a handwritten addition to that label that said: "Be sure to chew the square one."

Copyright 2001