Utah takes pride in health. In 2023, Utah ranked second in the nation in the health of our population. Utah is also the happiest state in the country, flowing from our community-oriented culture, stunning natural landscapes and strong civic institutions. As a result, we have the lowest rates of cancer, heart attacks, strokes and liver disease in the entire country.

Nonetheless, Utah still has room for improvement. For example, prescription misuse still accounts for far too many avoidable deaths in our state. As of 2018, Utah ranked 43rd in prescription misuse, meaning that only eight states were misusing prescription drugs at higher rates than Utah. Much of this stems from our opioid crisis, which takes the lives of too many Utahns per year. Addiction often begins with accidental misuse, as well as most other health complications from medication misuse. People often do not know which medications to take and when, leading to sickness and even death. In fact, 1 in 4 hospitalizations and over 125,000 deaths occur in America each year because patients do not take their medications correctly.

There are many reasons why Utahns may not take their medications correctly beyond abuse — forgetfulness, mistrust, fear of side effects — and education can help prevent this. We must better educate patients in Utah about their prescription drugs and their associated risks to help prevent misuse, hospitalizations and deaths. One way we can close the gap between health care professionals and patients is by protecting and improving patient medication information (PMI), the information stapled to prescriptions by the pharmacist. PMI details a drug’s purpose, instructions for use and potential side effects, among other details, ensuring that Utahns have all the information they need about their medications whenever they need it, in case they cannot get ahold of their pharmacist or physician. This will help prevent prescription misuse, including the very beginnings of addiction.

PMI must meet certain requirements to be effective. It must be formatted so as to be clear and memorable. In addition, studies also show that PMI must be printed, not only digital. Printed PMI helps prevent prescription misuse far better than any digital version because it’s easily accessible, especially for seniors and those without broadband internet access.

Unfortunately, the Food and Drug Administration proposed a rule that, while standardizing PMI across the country, would inadvertently make it harder for many Utahns to access their medication information. The rule does nothing to ensure that PMI is cognitively accessible or understandable, and it would likely push much of this information onto an online format that many people — including those in our state’s rural areas — would have trouble accessing. It also may place the burden of printing costs onto community pharmacies, as pharmacies — rather than drug companies — would have to foot the bill of printing PMI if a patient requested it. This would significantly weaken Utah’s strong network of local community pharmacies. Congress must ensure Utahns and all Americans receive clear, printed PMI with the medications they rely on.

Sen. Mitt Romney has worked hard to protect the health of Utahns in the past, and as a respected bipartisan leader in the Senate, he must do so again. I urge Sen. Romney to introduce a Senate version of the Patients’ Right to Know Their Medication Act (H.R. 1173), which would ensure PMI is formatted effectively based on empirical research as well as require that pharmaceutical companies print PMI for every patient. Sen. Romney can make sure that his last session in the Senate is his most effective, and he can do so by introducing this legislation and keeping every Utahn informed about the medications they take. Let’s make Utah even healthier.

Michael Headlee is a current pharmacy resident from North Ogden.

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