How Can I Identify a Pill I Found?

Pills are often small and slippery, so it's easy to drop them while you're trying to fish one out of a bottle. Because there are thousands and thousands of pills--prescription drugs, over-the-counter medications, herbal remedies and even illegal drugs--it can be hard to identify a pill. If you find a pill, follow these steps to determine what it is.

Instructions

• 1

  Visit drugs.com and use their Pill Identification Wizard. The website also provides pictures to help identify pills (see Resources below). Or email a detailed description of the pill to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) at [email protected], and they'll also try to identify it.

• 2

  Take the pill to a local drug store and ask a pharmacist to identify it. If the pharmacist cannot tell you what it is, the pill may be an illegal street drug.

• 3

  Visit stopdrugs.org and try to identify the pill by using their resources. This website provides pictures, names and descriptions of what the pills are taken for (see Resources below).