英伦广角 再抓药时药品外表的变化令病人望而生畏（在线收听）

Don’t judge a book by its cover. And don’t judge a pill by its color…or shape.

不要从封面来判断一本书的好坏，更不要从药片的颜色和形状来判断其功效。

When prescriptions for post-heart-attack care got refilled and the same drugs suddenly came in different shapes or colors, patients were significantly more likely to stop taking their meds.

当按照为心脏病患者后续治疗所开的处方，第二次抓药时，即使与第一次所抓的药品一样，而只是突然形状和颜色不一样，病人们也更有可能停止吃这些药。

That’s the finding from a study involving more than 11,000 patients that appears in the Annals of Internal Medicine. [Aaron S. Kesselheim et al, Burden of Changes in Pill Appearance for Patients Receiving Generic Cardiovascular Medications After Myocardial Infarction: Cohort and Nested Case–Control Studies]

这是从一项对11000多名病人所做的调查研究中而得出的结论，该研究结论被发表在《内科医学年鉴》上。

Even when different looking pills contained the exact same active ingredient, a change in color boosted the odds that patients would stop taking their heart medication by 34 percent. A change in shape jumped the chance that patients would cease their meds by 66 percent. You can find more 60-Second Health on chinavoa.com

即便当长得不一样的药片含有完全一样的有效成分时，一个颜色的变化就会使病人不再想继续服用这种药品的可能性增加34%。而形状的改变就会使病人停药的概率猛增到66%。

There’s no legal requirement to make generic and brand-name drugs appear alike. But the study’s authors say that the Food and Drug Administration should consider making consistent appearance the standard, as such uniformity would likely result in more patients adhering to their medication regimens. For now, we’re all stuck reading pharmaceutical labels.

—Dina Fine Maron

并没有法律规定要保证同类或同品牌的药品外表一样。但是这个现象的研究者称，食品和药物管理局应该制定始终一致的外观标准，这种一致性更可能使病人坚持完他们的服药疗程。目前，我们都坚持阅读药品标签。—Dina Fine Maron