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PARTLY

As of 13 August 2026, AI can only partly check whether your symptoms could be a medicine side effect.

This still needs a person who signs their name to it.

Can you do it?

5 minutesto a draft.

30 minutesto something you’d act on.

Cost, all in£0

Skill needednone

Who has to check ita professional

What the alternative costsA pharmacist, NHS 111 clinician or your prescriber is the appropriate alternative; no price is provided in the available tool data.

If this goes wrong, you may delay urgent care or change a medicine without appropriate medical advice.

What to actually do

  1. Hand it to a person

    The route this page recommends

    Someone with a licence or accountable authority has to sign this before it counts.

  2. Use a tool built for this

    Second choice

  3. Do it yourself

    The distant third

    A chat interface, no skill needed, and roughly 30 minutes until you can act on the result.

    How to actually do it

    1. Write down the medicine name, strength, dose, when you started or changed it, and when each symptom began.
    2. Add your other medicines and supplements, allergies, relevant medical conditions, age, symptom severity and any change in the symptoms.
    3. Open the medicine's patient information leaflet and the relevant NHS medicines information, and keep them available for comparison.
    4. Paste the copyable prompt into a chatbot and replace each bracketed slot with your information, without including unnecessary identifying details.
    5. Compare the chatbot's list of possible side effects with the medicine leaflet and note which points are supported, uncertain or missing.
    6. Send the resulting summary and questions to a pharmacist or prescriber, and contact NHS 111 for urgent or worrying symptoms; call 999 if there may be an emergency.

    Prompt

    I want help preparing for a pharmacist or clinician, not a diagnosis or a decision to start, stop or change a medicine. Assess whether the symptoms below are listed as possible side effects of the medicine, using only the information I provide and clearly separating known information from uncertainty. Do not say that the medicine caused the symptoms. Do not recommend changing the dose or stopping the medicine. List the exact details a pharmacist or clinician would need, including medicine name, strength, dose, when it was started or changed, when each symptom began, other medicines or supplements, allergies and relevant medical conditions. Point me to the medicine leaflet or NHS information I should check. Identify warning signs that need urgent help and tell me to contact NHS 111 if the symptoms are urgent or worrying. If there could be an emergency, say to call 999. End with a short list of questions I can ask a pharmacist or clinician. My details are: medicine name and strength: [ ]; dose and schedule: [ ]; when started or changed: [ ]; symptoms and severity: [ ]; when symptoms began: [ ]; other medicines or supplements: [ ]; allergies: [ ]; relevant medical conditions: [ ]; age: [ ].

    Open it prefilled in ChatGPT or Claude, or copy it into Gemini, which takes no prefill link.

What it gets wrong

  • AI cannot examine you, measure your vital signs or recognise a serious reaction from appearance.
  • AI cannot establish that the medicine caused the symptom when illness, interactions or another medicine could explain it.
  • AI cannot reliably apply your full medical history or the latest safety advice to your particular case.
  • AI cannot take responsibility for deciding whether you should continue, stop or change a medicine.

What caps this at PARTLY: regulated advice, stakes of error and real time truth.

How we scored this

Five axes, each scored nought to two by hand: ten means AI carries the task cleanly, and the thresholds that turn a total into YES, PARTLY or NO are published in the methodology. Each axis name links to its definition.

AxisScore (0–2)
Output2
Inputs1
Verification1
Liability1
Effort delta2
Total7 / 10

The methodology and its thresholds are published in full.

FAQ

Can AI tell me if my symptoms are a side effect?
It can compare your symptoms with listed side effects and organise the timing, but it cannot confirm that the medicine caused them. Use the result to prepare for a pharmacist or clinician, not as a diagnosis.
Should I stop taking my medicine if I have side effects?
Do not use a chatbot to decide whether to stop or change a medicine. Ask a pharmacist or prescriber, and contact NHS 111 if the symptoms are urgent or worrying.
Can ChatGPT check my medicine side effects?
Yes, it can help you structure the medicine details, compare possible side effects with reliable information and draft questions for a pharmacist. It cannot examine you, confirm the cause or replace medical advice.
When should I call NHS 111 for medicine side effects?
Contact NHS 111 when symptoms are urgent or worrying, or when you are unsure how quickly you need medical help. Call 999 if there may be an emergency, such as severe breathing difficulty or loss of consciousness.

Nearby answers

All Symptoms & appointments rulings

Assessed by gpt-5.6-luna (gpt-5.6-luna) on 2026-08-13, second-checked by an independent model. Wrong somewhere? Email [email protected] and it gets re-checked.

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