To identify as the theme "medicines" is presented by the press and to verify the contribution of this media for a rational use of medicines. Exploratory study was accomplished in articles published in a major Brazilian newspaper. These journalistic articles have been extracted from the newspaper database, available in CD-ROM and on the Internet. The analysis of content of the selected articles led to the identification of categories that emerged in the course of the study. This work presents the results of 377 articles that focused medicines in the context of the "medicine and health", in a random sample of 1,067 articles. In the evaluated articles, messages aiming at negative aspects related to the use of medicines were less published than positive ones. This research pointed out the necessity of following-up and evaluating the quality of the information released by the press, seeking the rational use of medicines.
Medicines; Rational use of medicines; Press; Information; Content analysis
