When it comes to thehealth of their childrenand even parents, manymoms feel it's theirresponsibility to be aseducated as possibleabout health and medi-cine. With the many dif-ferent medicines outthere, it is hard to keeptrack of who in the fam-ily is taking what andthe dangers of drugreactions, interactionsand side effects.

In fact, the incidenceof serious drug reac-tions is increasing, ac–cording to a recent ana–lysis of adverse drugevents reported to theFood and Drug Admini–stration.

Now there is a freeonline tool to help the"family health officer"stay informed about thefamily's medicines:MedNotes (www.Drugs.com/mednotes). MedNotes is an award-win-ning, easy-to-use, per-sonalized medicationmanagement programthat can be used totrack the whole family'smedications. Deve–loped by Drugs.com, themost comprehensiveonline medicine infor-mation website, Med–Notes will help mothersand caretakers stayinformed about theirfamily's prescriptionand over the counterdrugs, safety news andpossible allergic, foodand drug interactions.

"Moms are gatekeep-ers of their families’health, from their chil-dren to their elderlyparents, so it's criticalfor them to stay infor–med about their fami-lies' medications. Butthe reality is it's hard tokeep up with new drugsafety information com-ing out nearly everyday," according toAlison Rhodes, "TheSafety Mom," andnationally-recognizedexpert in child safety."MedNotes gives moth-ers the important med-ication use and safetyinformation they want– and peace of mindwhen it comes to moni-toring and managingtheir family's medica-tion needs."

Some tips fromMedNotes:

• Add your medica-tions to instantly asse–mble relevant medicalinformation in a sim-ple, easy to read person-alized format.

• Gain immediateaccess to in-depth con-sumer information, dr–ug comparisons, histor-ical news, FDA alerts,drug interactions, plusfood, allergy and med-ical condition interac-tions.

• Choose to be notifiedwhen new FDA alerts

are issued and whenany new drugs becomeavailable for any ofyour existing medicalconditions.

• Print health andmedication records, in–cluding physician andemergency contacts, all-ergies and medical con-ditions.

• Use MedNotes tomanage medicationsprofiles for yourselfand your family.

MedNotes gives moth-ers the chance to createprofiles for differentfamily members, enterthe names of all med-ications being takenand register to receive– all in one easy-to-access place – drug safe-ty or interaction alerts,new drug and specificcondition news that isreleased by the FDA ordrug makers. Moms canalso print portable per-sonal health and med-ication histories, in–cluding physician andemergency contact in–formation.

Feedback from earlyusers recognizes Med–Notes as a valuable aidto their everyday healthmanagement, and insome cases as a poten-tially life-saving infor-mation source. Oneconsumer shared hisprinted MedNotes med-ication profile withparamedics in the am–bulance and creditsMedNotes with savingcritical time and, poten-tially, his life, on theway to the hospital.

Family medicine cabinet safetyadvice from local businesses

“Moms are gatekeepers of their families’ health, from their children totheir elderly parents, so it’s critical for

them to stay informed about theirfamilies’ medications But the reality is

it’s hard to keep up with new drugsafety information coming out nearly

every day.”

ALLISON RHODESNationaly-Recognized Child Safety Expert