iGuard.org, the leading web-based medication monitoring service for consumers, today announced an agreement with Microsoft HealthVault, a web-based consumer health technology platform, which will help more patients and caregivers access timely and reliable information about their prescription medications and over-the-counter supplements.

iGuard.org is a free, personal drug safety monitoring service that provides over 1.5 million consumers and caregivers with timely, personalized information about drug-drug interactions, drug-disease interactions, medication safety warnings, breaking safety news and medication recalls that may affect their health. Launched in October 2007, iGuard.org is one of the fastest growing Health 2.0 services today . currently registering over 100,000 new users each month.

Today's announcement is of particular benefit to over 135 million Americans who use at least one prescription medication – people who are at greatest risk of medication errors, drug-drug and drug-disease interactions. By registering for iGuard.org, consumers who have a HealthVault account can immediately begin benefitting from this potentially life-saving medication safety monitoring service.

Barbara Munroe of Phoenix, Ariz., is an iGuard.org user who has epilepsy and takes numerous medications. "After wasting away for a year with no energy, I registered all my medicines on iGuard.org," said Munroe. "To my surprise, I soon received an alert about an interaction between Paxil and another medication I'm taking, Zonegran. Since deleting Paxil from my medications my energy has soared. Without iGuard.org's information, I would still be on the couch – or worse. It has saved my life."

Consumer-Centric Medication Safety Tool Empowers Patients

"By providing consumers with immediate, customized information regarding the safety of their prescription and over-the-counter medications, iGuard furthers our goal of enabling patients to take greater control over managing their own health," said David Cerino, general manager of the Consumer Health Solutions Group at Microsoft.

When people register for the iGuard service through HealthVault, they immediately receive a personalized safety report by email that checks their medications for potential side-effects, treatment duplication and drug interactions. They also automatically receive updated safety reports as the medications in their HealthVault profile change, as well as rapid email safety and recall alerts, as new information emerges about their medications.

For example, last month the FDA issued alerts for a number of medications, including Stamina-RX Dietary Supplements, Ibuprofen, Zicam Cold Remedy Nasal Products, Levemir Insulin, Acetaminophen, Zenecore plus, Digoxin and Propafenone tablets, Raptiva and stimulant medications for children with Attention-Defecit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Just last week the FDA issued alerts for Chantix, Welbutrin, Zyban and Lantus.

"Every single person who is taking these medications and is registered with iGuard.org received a personalized email message with essential information about the recall or alert," said Hugo Stephenson, M.D., founder and president of iGuard.org. "Daily we receive compelling feedback from people telling us how valuable this service is to their general health management, and how it provides potentially life-saving medication information. In many cases, patients bring the alerts to their physicians or pharmacists who weren't yet aware of the recall or alert."

Stephenson said, "We are extremely excited to be working with Microsoft and their transformational vision for healthcare. Now anyone seeking to become more informed about their health.and a better way to manage their medical information—is empowered with tools to help them to play a more active role in their own health care.

Microsoft HealthVault, launched in October 2007, is a personal health application platform designed to put consumers in control of their health information. HealthVault provides a security- and privacy-enhanced foundation on which a broad ecosystem of providers can build innovative health and wellness solutions such as personal health records, disease management, fitness, weight loss and other Web applications. HealthVault can be used to collect and store health information that would otherwise reside in disparate systems and transfer the information between a variety of providers' health services and systems. It enables the reuse and free flow of interoperable and transportable personal health information. For more information, visit www.HealthVault.com.

iGuard.org offers a free and secure source of information for registered users who want to get informed, stay informed and share feedback about their medications. Founded by drug researchers in 2007, iGuard.org is committed to improving medication safety by providing 1.5 million Americans with the information they need to take more a more active role in their own health care. In addition to safety related information, patients will have the opportunity to learn about clinical trials for specific conditions and or medications. Registration is free online at iGuard.org.

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