If you click through to a Healthcare Professionals webpage, you may get a warning box that the information is only for Healthcare Professionals, but that won't stop the curious reader from continuing! Once you're at the Healthcare Professionals area, it's again a matter of hunting, this time for "Prescribing Information." Clicking here will usually display the USPI, either in standard website formatting or in a PDF.
There may be additional steps needed. For instance, if the company is based outside the US, you may have to hunt for the US website then follow the steps I describe above. Or the company may not have a website for older products, and typing in a name of an older drug can come up with anything: the manufacturer's website, or an independent company that purchased the domain name, or nothing at all.
The most reliable alternate place to look for labels for US drugs is at the FDA's website, Drugs@FDA (http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cder/drugsatfda/). It's comprehensive, but sadly, for some old drugs, searching for information comes up with a blank. For instance, I tried searching for chloromycetin, and there's lots of information about who made it, but the drug is consistently described as "discontinued." To get information on chloro, I ran a Google search, and found the information at Drugs.com.
If you're looking for labels for drugs that are not approved in the United States, and that you know are approved somewhere else, you may be able to find the information at other websites. For instance, for drugs approved in the UK, go to the eMC (The electronic Medicines Compendium) at http://emc.medicines.org.uk/ The eMC, like the FDA website, is free to use and unlike the PDR, you don't have to be a physician, nor do you need to register any personal details.
Drugs approved in Europe by the EMEA (European Medicines Agency) are found by starting from "EPARs for authorised medicinal products for human use"
http://www.ema.europa.eu/htms/human/epar/a.htm and finding the drug. Then clicking on the drug's name, look around for "Product Information*" in the language of your choice (BTW, English is EN).
Japanese approved drugs are searchable in English at
http://www.e-search.ne.jp/~jpr/jpr_db/eindex.htm (Only a few diabetes drugs are listed; they're at 87249: Miscellaneous).
New Zealand approved drugs are at
http://www.medsafe.govt.nz/
And South Africa drugs are at
http://home.intekom.com/pharm/
Why should a non-physician read the label? Well, obviously, you can wow your doctor at the next visit with all sorts of trivia you've learned. Or have some intelligent discussion about possible side effects that you've had. Or maybe by comparing two or more drugs in the same class, you can make an argument to switch from one to the other. And if you're concerned or confused by something your physician said (or didn't say), the label is the definitive source for information (with the exception that off-label uses for the drug are not described in the label). After all, you're the one who's taking the medication, and you have the opportunity to learn more. Go for it!
