[Medication directions as a source of technical and scientific information].

Objective: To assess the adequacy and quality of information available in package directions of basic medicines commercialized in Brazil, according to both the specialized technical and scientific literature and the current regulations on the subject.

Methods: One hundred and sixty-eight medication directions of medicines containing forty-one specific drugs selected from the Brazilian National Inventory of Essential Medication. The analysis was carried out using as reference the Brazilian Regulation (Portaria SVS 110/97) and USP-DI Technical and Scientific Reference Literature-1999.