The Institute for Safe Medication Practices, a not-for-profit group, warns that hundreds of drugs like these have similar names and could be confused with one another. At the same time, patients and pharmacists are dealing with the problem of doctors’ hard-to-decipher handwriting.

The good news: In some states, the days of illegible prescriptions are coming to an end. Florida and Washington State have enacted new laws aimed at cleaning up physicians' writing, and other states are expected to follow the lead. The Florida law requires that prescriptions be:

 Legibly written or typed.
 Contain certain information.
 Be dated and signed by the prescribing practitioner on the day issued.
 Provide an effective date.

Moreover, all dates must be spelled out rather than indicated by digits (for example, 01-01-2003 is no longer allowed.) The legislation doesn’t contain penalties for violations. It is up to the Florida Board of Medicine to determine discipline. For the first year, the board will contact violators and educate them about the law. After that, offenders face possible discipline.

The FDA is also discussing its role in ensuring that private sector prescriptions contain useful information and are legible and understandable. No concrete action has been taken.

Another solution for the problem involves electronic prescribing. In addition to ensuring legibility, electronic prescriptions can theoretically be processed more quickly. That shortens the wait for the customer.

However, widespread use of these systems in more states won't happen in the near future. The changes are costly and there are challenges integrating the technology with other systems.

In the meantime, take these prudent steps to ensure the medicine you get is indeed what the doctor ordered:

1. Have the doctor or nurse tell you exactly what is being prescribed and the dosage. Make sure dosage instructions include the milligrams or ounces rather than just  “two pills a day.” The pills you got in the hospital may have been half the strength of what you're getting at the drug store.

2. Try to read the prescription and instructions yourself before leaving the doctor’s office. If you can’t read it, there's a good chance the pharmacist won't be able to either. Ask the doctor to rewrite it so you can read it.

3. Write the information yourself after being told, if you are worried about forgetting it.

4. Don’t let the doctor or nurse rush through the instructions. Remember: They’re busy professionals, but they work for you.

5. Ask the pharmacy to verify the prescription to you before filling it. Even if you can read it, the pharmacist may misread it. A few extra seconds can help ensure there aren’t avoidable complications later.

6. Check the label on the prescription to ensure that it matches what you understood from the doctor or nurse. Ask about any discrepancies.

Some final precautions: You can further check prescriptions if the individual pills are labeled by name. And to keep medicines straight, use “seven-day pill holders” that have the days of the week on them. They can be found in most grocery stores as well as pharmacies.