Over-the-counter medicines

Abuse of over-the-counter medicines: a pharmacist’s perspective

Self-care and self-medication practices are essential components of any health care systems. The use of over-the-counter (OTC) medications is a part of the self-medication process. The popularity of OTC medication use among patients may increase the abuse potential of OTC medications. With pharmacists being as accessible as they are, they are often the first line of contact for patients, and ha...

Over-the-Counter Medicines, How to Avoid Causing Health Problems?

pain relievers are the most common and may reach about 50% of patients in some polls (Wilcox et al., 2005). Jean-Paul Giroud, the leading author of the book, is a renowned Clinical Pharmacologist from the French National Academy of Medicine in Paris. He did bring together a medical advisory board from wide-ranging specialties to review the book for accuracy. The purpose of the author was to pro...

Purchasing Over-the-counter medicines from Australian pharmacy: What do the pharmacy customers value and expect?

BACKGROUND Over-the-counter medicines (OTC) are widely available and can be purchased without a prescription. Their availability means that a customer may choose to purchase them without the involvement of a pharmacy/pharmacist. It is important to understand customer OTC purchasing perceptions and behaviour from a pharmacy to better understand the needs and opportunities in this space. OBJECT...

Socioeconomic Impact of Seasonal (Epidemic) Influenza and the Role of Over-the-Counter Medicines

The substantial economic impact of influenza on society results primarily from lost work time and reduced productivity of patients and caregivers and increased use of medical resources. Additionally, since the 1980s, aging of the US population has meant rising influenza-related morbidity and mortality. According to the most current published data on this topic, in 2003 the total economic burden...

Over-the-counter cough medicines in children: neither safe or efficacious?