To illustrate the types of factors that must be considered in evaluating public documents, this paper analyzes a number of possible outcomes resulting from one type of document, the patient package insert (PPI) designed to provide consumers of prescription drugs with information about the drugs. It first outlines the intended sequence for a PPI: (1) the patient receives the PPI, reads and comprehends it, (2) is satisfied with the prescribed treatment, (3) follows the prescribed regimen, and (4) improves in health. It then diagrams and discusses possible variations in the intended sequence that might result from such factors as the patient's failure to read the PPI, the patient's lack of comprehension of the PPI, or the patient's decision against taking the prescribed drug. It also shows possible variations in physician behavior that might affect the PPI sequence and considers complications such as those that might arise from a PPI's presentation of information that frightens a patient. In its conclusion, the paper notes the usefulness of such analyses in document evaluation, outlines implications of the PPI analysis, and asserts that an evaluation should be a historical undertaking rather than a one-shot study. (GT)