What should a medication list include?
The core fields fit on one line per medicine. What takes more thought is what counts as a medicine, and keeping the details current.
Arun Verma, co-founder of Triangle · 2026-10-17
This is not clinical evidence and not medical advice. It does not replace your care team. Discuss anything here with your clinician before you act on it.
What should a medication list include?
Every medicine you use, with a few facts about each: its name, its strength, what you take it for, and when, how and how much you take it. The FDA says the list should also carry your emergency contacts and your allergies. One list is meant to hold all of it: prescription medicines, over-the-counter medicines, vitamins and supplements.
What goes on each line for a medicine?
Each line starts with four things: the name, the strength, the reason you take it, and the instructions for when, how and how much. Much of that is printed on the label or the package insert that came with the medicine. Some medicines have both a brand name and a generic name, and AHRQ says it is a good idea to write in both. Forms and guides then add extras. NIA suggests noting who prescribed a prescription medicine and why. FDA's My Medicine Record also has a column for start and stop dates and another for who told you to use the medicine and how to reach them.
Do over-the-counter products, vitamins and supplements belong on it?
Yes, including the ones that don't feel like medicine. FDA's My Medicine Record asks for all over-the-counter medicines and dietary supplements, including vitamins, minerals and herbals, whether you use them all the time or only some of the time. It also asks for any prescription medicine samples you were given. Occasional use still counts. AHRQ's template has a separate chart for medicines taken only when needed, next to charts for daily medicines and for ones taken regularly but not every day. NIA's tip for keeping track of medicines is much the same: all of them go on the list, over-the-counter drugs included, along with any vitamins or dietary supplements.
What about allergies and past problems with a medicine?
They belong on the list itself. On AHRQ's template, allergies sit at the top: your name, your allergies and an emergency contact, then the date the list was created or updated. Some forms go further. FDA's My Medicine Record has a space for any allergic reaction or other problem you have had with a medicine, dietary supplement, food, skin cleaner or medical tape. MedlinePlus lists side effects as another detail for each medicine. An up-to-date allergy list is there so a doctor or pharmacist doesn't give you a medicine that contains something that could cause an allergic reaction.
How often should a medication list be updated?
Whenever a medicine is started, stopped or changed, and often in between. A new prescription, a different dosage and a stopped medication are all examples of a change. The FDA's My Medicine Record also names a visit to a doctor, pharmacist or other health professional as a moment to review the list. AHRQ's instructions pair each update with a new date at the top and a fresh printout that replaces the old one, so you have the most updated copy.
Where should you keep it, and who should see it?
Somewhere you will have it with you, and in front of your health care providers. A list in a drawer at home doesn't help in a waiting room. The FDA's examples of carrying a copy include a picture on your smartphone, an app, or a paper copy kept with your health insurance card. A trusted relative, friend or caregiver can have a copy too. NIA suggests showing it to all your providers, including physical therapists and dentists, with one copy at home and one in your wallet or purse. MedlinePlus says to bring the medicines in their bottles along with the list, both to appointments and to the pharmacy. With more than one pharmacy, the list can go to the pharmacist at each location when a prescription is dropped off.
Is there a template to start from?
Yes, and public agencies publish them. You can write a simple list on paper, use an app, download a form, or get a template from your health care provider, and the FDA's consumer guidance says the best list is the one that is easy to create, maintain and remember to share. AHRQ offers a My Medicines List as an editable Word file and a printable PDF, with one medicine per row and charts organized by how often you take each medicine. Its instructions cover a list for yourself or for someone you help; for someone else, the name, allergies and emergency contact entered are that person's. FDA's My Medicine Record is a single medicine table, with separate boxes for contacts and allergies, filled in on a computer or by hand, with extra columns such as what each medicine looks like.
What does a list help with?
A list helps each professional see what you use. It helps health care professionals know about your current health and minimize medication errors, and it can fill the gap between health information systems that do not communicate with each other. You could ask your provider or pharmacist to go over the list with you. A fair question is whether the pharmacy keeps a patient profile that covers over-the-counter products, vitamins and supplements, which NIA says you can ask your pharmacist about. If what's written is hard to read, others may have trouble reading it too, and you could ask your doctor or pharmacist to help fill it in.
Sources
- FDA: Create and Keep a Medication List for Your Health (content current as of 01/08/2025): FDA says a medication list is a tool to help you keep track of all the prescription medications, over-the-counter drugs, vitamins and supplements that you take.
- FDA: Create and Keep a Medication List for Your Health (content current as of 01/08/2025): FDA says the list should have your emergency contacts, allergies and information about your prescription and nonprescription medicines, vitamins and supplements, including the name of each medicine, its strength, what you take it for, and instructions of when, how and how much you take it.
- AHRQ: How To Create a My Medicines List (content last reviewed October 2022): AHRQ says a medicine may have a brand name and a generic name, and that it is a good idea to write in both names.
- AHRQ: How To Create a My Medicines List (content last reviewed October 2022): AHRQ says the information you need is on the label or the package insert that came with the medicine.
- NIA: Taking Medicines Safely as You Age (content reviewed September 22, 2022): NIA says that for a prescription drug, the list should also note the doctor who prescribed it and the reason it was prescribed.
- FDA: My Medicine Record (Form FDA 3664, 3/11): FDA's My Medicine Record has a start/stop dates column: the date you started using a medicine and, if you are only supposed to use it for a period of time, the date you should stop.
- FDA: My Medicine Record (Form FDA 3664, 3/11): FDA's My Medicine Record has a "Who Told Me to Use / How to Contact" column for the name and contact information of the doctor, nurse, or pharmacist (or other) who prescribed or told you to use a medicine.
- FDA: My Medicine Record (Form FDA 3664, 3/11): FDA's My Medicine Record says to enter all over-the-counter medicines and dietary supplements (including vitamins, minerals and herbals) you use, whether you use them all the time or only some of the time.
- FDA: My Medicine Record (Form FDA 3664, 3/11): FDA's My Medicine Record says to enter all prescription medicines you use, including any medicine samples you are given.
- AHRQ: How To Create a My Medicines List (content last reviewed October 2022): AHRQ's instructions sort medicines into three groups (every day; regularly but not every day; only when you need them) and give a chart for each group.
- NIA: Taking Medicines Safely as You Age (content reviewed September 22, 2022): NIA's tip for keeping track of medicines says to write down all medicines you take, including over-the-counter drugs, and to also include any vitamins or dietary supplements.
- AHRQ: How To Create a My Medicines List (content last reviewed October 2022): AHRQ's instructions start the list with your name, your allergies and your emergency contact information, then add the date you created or updated the list.
- FDA: My Medicine Record (Form FDA 3664, 3/11): FDA's My Medicine Record has a section for any allergic reaction or other problem you have had with any medicine, dietary supplement, food, skin cleaner or medical tape.
- MedlinePlus: Keeping your medicines organized (review date 7/15/2026): MedlinePlus says to include, for each medicine, the name, a description of what it does, the dose, the times of day you take it and side effects.
- NIA: Taking Medicines Safely as You Age (content reviewed September 22, 2022): NIA says to make sure your doctor and pharmacist have an up-to-date list of your allergies so they don't give you a medicine that contains something that could cause an allergic reaction.
- FDA: Create and Keep a Medication List for Your Health (content current as of 01/08/2025): FDA says to review and update the list often, especially when something changes, for example a new prescription, a different dosage or stopping a medication.
- FDA: My Medicine Record (Form FDA 3664, 3/11): FDA's My Medicine Record says to review and update the record when you stop or start a medicine or dietary supplement, make a change in anything you use, or visit your doctor, pharmacist or other health professional.
- AHRQ: How To Create a My Medicines List (content last reviewed October 2022): AHRQ says to update the list every time you start, stop or change a medicine, to update the date at the top, and to print the new list and throw out the old one so you have the most updated copy.
- FDA: Create and Keep a Medication List for Your Health (content current as of 01/08/2025): FDA says to keep a copy of the list with you, for example a picture on your smartphone, an app, or a physical copy kept with your health insurance card, so you have it to share with a doctor, pharmacist or in an emergency.
- FDA: Create and Keep a Medication List for Your Health (content current as of 01/08/2025): FDA says to share your list with a trusted relative, friend or caregiver.
- NIA: Taking Medicines Safely as You Age (content reviewed September 22, 2022): NIA says to show the list to all your health care providers, including physical therapists and dentists, and to keep one copy in a safe place at home and one in your wallet or purse.
- MedlinePlus: Keeping your medicines organized (review date 7/15/2026): MedlinePlus says to bring the list and your medicines in their bottles to your health care provider appointments and when you go to the pharmacy.
- NIA: Taking Medicines Safely as You Age (content reviewed September 22, 2022): NIA says that if you are unable to use just one pharmacy, you should share your list of medicines and supplements with the pharmacist at each location when you drop off your prescription.
- FDA: Create and Keep a Medication List for Your Health (content current as of 01/08/2025): FDA says you can write a simple list on paper, download an app, download a form online and fill it out, or get a list template from your health care provider, and that the best list is the one that is easy to create, maintain and remember to share.
- AHRQ: How To Create a My Medicines List (content last reviewed October 2022): AHRQ offers its My Medicines List as an editable Word file and as a printable PDF, with one medicine per row.
- AHRQ: How To Create a My Medicines List (content last reviewed October 2022): AHRQ says its instructions can be used to create a My Medicines List for yourself, a family member, a friend or anyone you take care of, and that for someone else you use that person's name, allergies and emergency contact information.
- FDA: My Medicine Record (Form FDA 3664, 3/11): FDA's My Medicine Record can be filled in on a computer or printed and filled in by hand, and includes a "What It Looks Like" column for color, shape, size and markings.
- FDA: My Medicine Record (Form FDA 3664, 3/11): FDA's My Medicine Record has the medicine table on printed page 1 and separate sections for personal contacts and for allergic reactions or other problems on printed page 2.
- FDA: Create and Keep a Medication List for Your Health (content current as of 01/08/2025): FDA says a medication list helps health care professionals know about your current health and minimize medication errors.
- FDA: Create and Keep a Medication List for Your Health (content current as of 01/08/2025): FDA says medication lists can fill the gap between different health care information systems that do not communicate with each other.
- MedlinePlus: Keeping your medicines organized (review date 7/15/2026): MedlinePlus says to review your medicine list with your provider or pharmacist.
- NIA: Taking Medicines Safely as You Age (content reviewed September 22, 2022): NIA says to ask your pharmacist if there is a patient profile you can fill out, so the pharmacy is aware of all the drugs, over-the-counter medications, vitamins and supplements you take.
- FDA: My Medicine Record (Form FDA 3664, 3/11): FDA's My Medicine Record says to make sure you can read what is written, because if you can't, others may have trouble reading it too, and says you can ask your doctor or pharmacist to help you fill it in.
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