Deck 15: Over-The-Counter, Prescription, and Herbal Drugs

Question 1

What role should the pharmacist play in providing information about OTC and prescription drugs to patients?

Answer 1

Over-the-counter (OTC) drugs:
OTC drugs are pills that can be sold directly to a consumer without any prescription from health professionals.
Role of pharmacists:
The following are the roles of pharmacists in providing information about OTC and prescribed medicines:
• Checking and distributing the medicine to patients
• Advising patients on the selection, dosages, and adverse effects of medicines
• Act as an intermediary between patients and prescriber
• Providing pharmaceutical information

Question 2

What type of formal training should be required before a health professional is allowed to prescribe drugs?

Answer 2

Over-the-counter (OTC) drugs:
OTC drugs are pills that can be sold directly to a consumer without any prescription from health professionals.
Formal training to prescribe drugs:
Before prescribing a medicine to patient, healthcare profession should require appropriate training in their specializations. The following are the formal training required to prescribe drugs by health professional:
• Accredited training programmes
• Vocational training for general practice
• Pre-registration training in medicine and other professions
• Post- registration training in medicine and other professions

Question 3

What kinds of questions should be asked by a health professional to ensure that a patient has sufficient understanding concerning a drug to use it properly and safely?

Answer 3

Over-the-counter (OTC) drugs:
OTC drugs are pills that can be sold directly to a consumer without any prescription from health professionals.
Questions to be asked by the health professionals:
The following are the questions that should be asked by the health professionals to ensure patient's sufficient understanding regarding the drug use:
• Disease to be treated
• Desired result or outcome
• Potential or adverse effects of the drug
• Way of stimulant or drug should be disposed of
• Way of the drug is taken to maximize benefits and minimize benefits

Question 4

What are the basic rules for using OTC drugs properly?

Question 5

Why is abuse of prescription drugs such a common problem?

Question 6

Why are the opioid painkillers the most frequently abused of the prescription drugs?

Question 7

How should users of prescription drugs handle their medications to prevent their abuse by others?

Question 8

Why are some people more likely to abuse prescription drugs than illegal substances?

Question 9

Even though some antibiotics have a wide margin of safety, currently there is no systemic antibiotic available OTC. Why is the FDA not willing to make some of these drugs available on a nonprescription basis?

Question 10

Should herbal remedies be required to be safe and effective by the FDA like other OTC drug products?

Question 11

What role, if any, should the FDA have in regulating herbal products?

Question 12

Why are some prescription drugs appropriate for switching to OTC status?

Question 13

What should the FDA use as a standard of safety when evaluating OTC and prescription drugs?