What is the Difference Between Over-the-Counter and Prescription Medicines?

Over-the-counter drugs refer to drugs that can be purchased without the need for a physician or other medical professional to be prescribed by a national health administrative department after being prescribed or approved by the national health administrative department, in order to facilitate the use of drugs by the general public. The drug label and instructions can be used on your own. Over-the-counter drugs are also known as over-the-counter drugs in the United States, or OTC drugs for short. These drugs are mostly used for self-diagnosis and treatment of common diseases such as colds, coughs, indigestion, headaches, and fever. In order to ensure people's health, warning labels are marked on the packaging labels and instruction manuals of over-the-counter drugs in China, clearly specifying the time and course of treatment, and emphasizing that "if the symptoms do not alleviate or disappear, you should consult a physician." In short: you can choose according to your needs.

Chinese name: Non-prescription drugs
Foreign name: over the counter drug
Attributes: Drug classification

Short name: OTC drugs
Important features: Can be purchased as needed
Classification: Class A (white text on red background), Class B (white text on green background)

OTC background knowledge

Class A and B over-the-counter drugs

Over-the-counter drugs are transformed from prescription drugs.

Drugs that are considered effective, stable in quality, and safe for use by non-medical professionals. However, in OTC medicines, there are more detailed classifications. The white ones on the red background are Class A and the white ones on the green background are Class B. Although both OTC A and B OTC can be purchased in pharmacies, OTC OTC drugs are more safe. In addition to being sold in pharmacies, Class B over-the-counter drugs can also be sold in supermarkets, hotels, department stores, etc. Therefore, taking over-the-counter drugs must not be random, it is best to consult a doctor in advance.

Characteristics of adverse reactions

Any drug has toxic side effects, just to varying degrees. Over-the-counter drugs are safer and relatively speaking. If the cause is unknown and the condition is unclear, it is better not to use over-the-counter drugs. If the medicine does not work or shows signs of exacerbation, or even rash, pruritus, high fever, asthma and other abnormalities occur, you should stop the medicine immediately and go to the hospital for treatment.

The first batch of over-the-counter western medicines in China were 165 varieties in 23 categories, and there were 160 varieties of proprietary Chinese medicines, but each type of medicine contained a different dosage form.

OTC difference

Brands, logos, labels and words with OTC guidance

Internationally, over-the-counter medicines have their own unique symbols on brands and logos. For example, brands should try their best to unify, and at the same time attach importance to continuous innovation to improve their visibility in order to sell in chain stores, while also using brands as measures to protect their products. The label should clearly distinguish whether the drug is used as a prescription or over-the-counter drug. For example, prescription drugs in the United States must indicate "Federal Law Prohibits Dispensing Without Prescription." "Adequate Direction foruse", the United Kingdom, Germany, Japan and other countries also have similar words or logos. Examination should be expressed in words that can be understood by normal people, and even illustrated, so that consumers can use OTC medicines correctly with the label.

OTC-Related Books The US Food and Drug Administration has proposed seven items of non-prescription drug labels: (1) the product name; (2) the name and address of the manufacturer, packer or distributor; (3) the contents of the package; (4) all valid Ingredients' INN (International Generic Name of Non-Patented Drug) names; (5) the content of certain other components such as ethanol, alkaloids, etc .; (6) precautions and advisory content for consumer protection; (7) safe and correct Appropriate medication instructions for using this medicine.

As a result, people can generally identify over-the-counter medicines from their brand, logo, label, and words containing OTC guidance.

Advertising

All countries in the world that implement the classification and management system for prescription drugs and over-the-counter drugs have strictly stipulated that prescription drugs must not be advertised to the public, but their product information is allowed to be disseminated in academic journals of the medical industry. China stipulates that: "prescription drugs are only allowed to be advertised in professional medical newspapers, and over-the-counter drugs can be advertised in the mass media after approval." And other countries have different restrictions on advertising over-the-counter drugs to the public, such as the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, New Zealand and other countries allow advertisements for over-the-counter medicines, while Italy, Spain, France and other countries do not allow advertisements for reimbursable over-the-counter medicines and over-the-counter medicines using prescription drug brands. Except for other over-the-counter medicines, they need to have a certificate of approval before they can advertise. TV commercial, but must have the phrase "the drug is under the guidance of a doctor or pharmacist".

Focus on changes to the OTC inventory

After the implementation of over-the-counter drug regulations, it is not static. It will be re-evaluated every 3 to 5 years to promote innovation and survival of the fittest to ensure the effectiveness and safety of OTC. With the development of medical technology, a large number of new drugs are launched on the market, and the understanding of each OTC is also deepening. Some prescription drugs are unlikely to become over-the-counter drugs, but they may also become OTC after changing the dosage form or reducing the prescribed dose, that is, It is said that those with better performance, safer and more effective over-the-counter medicines are added, and some outdated over-the-counter medicines are eliminated. For example, the main categories of OTC in the world are the following 6: antipyretic and analgesics, antitussive anti-cold medicine, digestive system medicine, skin diseases Medications, tonics, vitamins, trace elements and additives. The following types of drugs can be marketed as OTC after conversion: anti-asthma drugs, oral contraceptives, muscle relaxants, cardiovascular drugs (excluding calcium antagonists) and anti-infective drugs.

Hidden dangers of over-the-counter drugs

Over-the-counter medicines must be managed

In contrast to prescription drugs, over-the-counter drugs are drugs that consumers can buy and use without the need for a doctor's prescription. So, does this mean that over-the-counter medicine is a drug that can be used freely by consumers without the need for management?

In fact, over-the-counter medicines need to be managed, and this management responsibility is not only a matter for state functional departments, it requires the joint efforts of the whole society; otherwise, it violates the original intention of drug classification management and does not play a positive role in people's health .

Over-the-counter medicine is convenient and has hidden dangers

The significance of setting up over-the-counter medication categories is to provide rapid and effective relief without the need for medical consultation, and to alleviate the growing demand for medical services.

OTC-Related Books Pressure in order to provide more security opportunities for the population in rural and remote areas, and promote self-medication as one of the most important ways of self-care.

With the development of economy and the popularization of scientific and technological knowledge, people around the world are paying more and more attention to their own health, and are more willing to use self-medicine to improve their health. It is increasingly recognized. "Going to a pharmacy" is the main way for people to purchase over-the-counter medicines for self-medication.

But it cannot be ignored that in China, 2.5 million patients are hospitalized for adverse drug reactions each year, and about 192,000 people die each year from adverse drug reactions. Self-medicated people are more likely to have hidden safety hazards due to limited medical knowledge, different cultural levels, and other factors, which need to be taken seriously.

Therefore, as people become more self-medicated, the management of over-the-counter medicines is increasingly on the agenda of history. From a broad perspective, to strengthen the self-medicine education of the people, the whole society should shoulder this responsibility; but to effectively strengthen the management of over-the-counter medicines and effectively protect the people's health, relevant companies have an unshirkable responsibility.

Capturing the "source" of over-the-counter drugs

Since China started to implement the drug classification management system in 2000, it is catching up with the legalization and standardization of drug supervision and management in the world. As a rising pharmaceutical power is marching towards a powerful pharmaceutical power, China s large population and fast-growing national economy have brought unprecedented opportunities for the development of the pharmaceutical industry, attracting pharmaceutical companies from all over the world to enter the Chinese market.

With the increasing number of pharmaceutical R & D and production enterprises, all kinds of over-the-counter medicines have also become "chaotic and fascinating." For ordinary people, it is difficult to comprehensively and correctly understand the relevant drug knowledge. Manufacturers must strengthen self-management because they are the "source" of over-the-counter medicines. This "source" is not good, and protecting people's health can only be empty talk. Therefore, research institutions and over-the-counter drug manufacturers must strengthen their sense of social responsibility and develop and produce over-the-counter drugs in strict accordance with the requirements of relevant state functional departments.

Features

Generally speaking, over-the-counter drugs should have the following basic characteristics:

1. Generally, it takes a long period of comprehensive inspection;

2. The efficacy is generally determined;

3. It is relatively safe to use according to the instructions for use of the drug;

4, small toxic and side effects, low incidence of adverse reactions;

5, easy to use, easy to store, etc.

This puts forward social moral requirements for pharmaceutical companies and R & D institutions. On the other hand, it also puts forward higher requirements for their scientific research and production capabilities. But this is not enough. In practice, a drug with the best effect can only be used for a specific disease, a specific patient, and a specific method of use. Therefore, a paper guide to guide consumers in the correct use of drugs, in In this sense it is extremely important.

Difficult instructions

Many consumers have this feeling: the instructions for some medicines are like "Tianshu", which lists professional terms and biochemical terms, which cannot be understood. For pharmaceutical companies, this issue must be taken seriously. The instructions should be easy to understand and detailed. General instructions should include the following: product name, active ingredient name, indications, contraindications, usage and dosage, precautions, adverse reactions, preservation methods, validity period, production approval, factory name address, contact information, etc.

In short, pharmaceutical companies have a heavy responsibility, and the drugs they produce must be both reassuring to consumers and understandable. But it's not that pharmaceutical companies meet these two requirements and can be "well-deserved." Pharmaceutical companies should also vigorously participate in the safe use and management of non-prescription medicines in society as a whole, rather than just promoting their own medicines.

Pharmacy "checks" is better than "selling medicine"

As a direct communication link with consumers, pharmacies are in an important position in the process of consumers purchasing over-the-counter medicines and achieving self-medication, and their responsibilities are self-evident.

From the situation in China, on the one hand, consumers lack basic medical knowledge, on the other hand, medicine and medical knowledge are too specialized, and licensed pharmacists and professionals are lacking. Therefore, to resolve this contradiction, we must rely on the pharmacy staff to use professional knowledge to provide consumers with pharmaceutical services that promote health, supply medicines, guide medications, and review prescriptions. In this sense, pharmacy clerks have assumed the role of physicians and become important guides for consumers' self-medication.

Non-prescription drugs

Zhang Hezhang, president of the China Non-Prescription Drugs Association, once famously said that "pharmacies" check "is better than" selling drugs. " Obviously, his words emphasized that the improvement of the clerk's business level is vital to the prosperity and development of self-medicine and to promote the health of the entire population. "From the perspective of market competition, pharmacy clerks must also take on this responsibility," Zhang Hezheng said. "This service-based competition will be the foundation of deep competition for pharmacies." It is for this reason that the Chinese OTC Association has a history With the strong support of the company, from June 18th to October 15th, the "Promoting the Safety of Drugs for All-The US-China Schick Cup Drug Knowledge Contest" was launched nationwide. After the business training, about 80,000 clerks from nearly 20,000 pharmacies participated in the competition. It is reported that this is the first time in China for such a large-scale training and examination of self-medication and safe medication.

"Medical care is not a trivial matter, and medical care is free of minor illnesses. For pharmaceutical companies and medical workers, they should have a sense of responsibility and mission towards self-medicated patients, and they should know the knowledge of medication, especially over-the-counter medicine." Zhang Hezhen said, "From this Judging from the situation of the second competition, the professional quality and level of pharmacy clerks have indeed been improved, but it goes without saying that there is still a certain gap between our goals.

"In the future, the training of pharmacy staff's business knowledge must become a conscious and proactive daily behavior of pharmacies in order to effectively improve the knowledge of the use of over-the-counter drugs." Zhang Hezhen repeatedly emphasized that "it must be persistent and strict."

Over-the-counter drugs

It is learned from the State Food and Drug Administration that, after being approved by the State Food and Drug Administration, 9 kinds of drugs, such as pediatric paracetamol, have been converted from original prescription drugs to over-the-counter drugs.

According to the person in charge of the Safety Supervision Department of the State Food and Drug Administration, in order to further facilitate the self-medication of the masses, the State Food and Drug Administration according to the provisions of the "Administrative Measures for the Classification of Prescription Drugs and OTC Drugs" (Trial), The Notice on Conversion Evaluation requires that the conversion of prescription drugs and non-prescription drugs be carried out.

Non-prescription drugs

The conversion procedure is as follows: first, the enterprise submits an application for variety conversion to the State Food and Drug Administration, and then the State Food and Drug Administration organizes an expert to conduct a review, and announces the varieties that have passed the review. This conversion process has completely changed the previous rule of selecting experts for over-the-counter medicines.

Among the varieties of drugs converted into over-the-counter drugs this time, there are 6 types of chemical drugs and 3 types of proprietary Chinese medicines, which are pediatric paracetamol, bisacodyl suppository, shuangpiao pseudo-linen dispersible tablets, bisazolate cotton suppository, and ciprofloxacin phosphate. Lin effervescent tablets, multivitamin tablets, Heche Dazha capsules, antiviral soft capsules, Zhenyuan capsules.

The State Food and Drug Administration requires the Food and Drug Administrations of the provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government to notify relevant drug manufacturing enterprises in their respective jurisdictions as soon as possible, and to carry out the review and registration of the aforementioned non-prescription drug varieties.

OTC market status

market situation

Most countries in the Asia-Pacific region have legal requirements for sales of over-the-counter drugs, but some countries still do not classify over-the-counter drugs. For example, in India, because of the lack of a sound classification management system, the private sale of over-the-counter drugs is common. In contrast, in developed countries like Japan, regulators are very responsible in protecting consumers' medications. In addition to stipulating how and where consumers can purchase over-the-counter medicines, they have strict regulations on the contents of packaging, labeling and instructions for non-prescription medicines. Claim.

The retail of over-the-counter drugs is generally restricted by law, and its main business right is called "pharmacy monopoly" or "marketing." But vitamins and dietary supplements, pharmaceutical by-products, herbs and traditional medicines are often included in food product management. Vitamins and dietary supplements clearly dominate the OTC market in the Asia-Pacific region, with annual sales accounting for 57% of total regional OTC sales. Japan occupies an absolute dominant position in the over-the-counter drug market in the Asia-Pacific region, with annual sales of over-the-counter drugs accounting for 70% of the region's total annual sales.

Future Outlook The global OTC market sales are expected to grow steadily between 2003 and 2008, with an annual growth rate of approximately 2.5%. The Asia-Pacific region is expected to achieve the largest growth in these five years, jumping from the world's second-largest OTC market to No. 1. By 2008, over-the-counter drugs in the Asia-Pacific region are expected to generate $ 36 billion in sales, with the largest increase expected in China. China's growth has mainly benefited from stable economic support and the introduction of new over-the-counter products. Key growth areas are expected to include vitamins and dietary supplements, as well as cough, cold and allergy drugs.

The rise of biosimilars in Asia

The large and growing Asian countries will provide the world's largest market for biogenerics.

Although more than half of the world's people live in Asia, Asia accounts for only 20% of global drug use. As local per capita income increases year by year, the demand for medicines in Asian countries will continue to increase.

Non-prescription drugs

With the increase, the region will also become an increasingly important pharmaceutical market.

As in Europe, many Asian countries exercise control over drug prices to curb rising medical costs. Facts have proved that this approach affects the profitability of the pharmaceutical industry and hinders the development of new drugs. On the other hand, it has promoted a large increase in the use of generic drugs. In Asia, many branded medicines are imported.

The Japanese government has a heavy medical insurance burden

In general, Japan is still the third largest pharmaceutical market in the world. Following the United States and Western Europe, its annual sales of prescription drugs reach US $ 50 billion, and there are more than 450 prescription drug manufacturers. India and China have large population bases, and the population has been growing, and the pharmaceutical market has a bright future. The growth in countries and regions such as South Korea and Hong Kong is relatively small. China is the second largest pharmaceutical market in Asia, with sales of more than $ 7 billion in 2003, second only to Japan. India, South Korea, and Taiwan China are close behind, with annual sales of around $ 2 billion. Annual sales in Indonesia, the Philippines, and Hong Kong, China are approximately $ 1 billion.

Although global drug prices increased by double digits between 1990 and 2000, in Japan drug prices have fallen by 4.6% per year. The main reason is that in order to reduce the medical burden of the rapidly growing elderly population, the Japanese government has introduced price control measures and policies that are conducive to the use of generic drugs and reduce the cost of excessive prescription drugs.

The weak Japanese economy has further exacerbated the situation, with nearly 15% of Japanese insurance companies on the verge of bankruptcy, and their ability to continue providing medical insurance has been questioned. As a result, the Japanese government is forced to control rising drug prices, otherwise a large number of Japanese people will switch to the government medical insurance plan because they cannot afford private medical insurance.

The factors supporting Japan's price control system will continue to exist. The Japanese population is rapidly entering the aging stage, and fewer workers are entering the labor market to pay medical insurance costs. The average birth rate in Japan is 1.36. In 2005, the Japanese population will reach a peak of 127.1 million, and then it will drop to 89.7 million in 2050. This means that the Japanese government will have to pay more for medical expenses for the elderly with reduced income.

Indian and Chinese pharmaceutical industries face the same problem

Non-prescription drugs

India is a large pharmaceutical market with a billion consumer population, and it is also facing similar pricing pressures. The "Drug Price Control Rules" (DPCO) established by India imposes price limits on many varieties. This factor, coupled with the country's relatively lax patent laws, has led the Indian pharmaceutical industry with a market size of $ 2 billion to focus most of its attention on low-cost generic drugs rather than on the development of innovative new products.

China also faces the problem of drug price control, and the domestic pharmaceutical industry is still underdeveloped. These factors have stimulated the development of China's generic pharmaceutical industry. In the past five years, China's strong GDP growth rate has surpassed the United States and many Western European countries. This momentum is expected to continue.

In virtually all global pharmaceutical markets, generics and biosimilars pose strong competitive pressure on branded drugs. The rapid growth of the generic drug market is the result of a dual impact: first, the demand for drugs in all regional markets has increased year by year; second, factors unique to the generic drug industry, such as those who participate in medical insurance want to reduce their expenditure on prescription drugs; The patent for the bomb bomb drug has expired; countries around the world have undertaken institutional reforms to speed up the introduction of generic drugs (in some cases biosimilars).

Asian biosimilar market takes shape

In 2003, total sales of generic and biosimilars in Asia reached $ 4.94 billion. As in other regions, Asians' spending on drugs has shifted from branded drugs to generics. It is expected that by 2010, generic drugs and biosimilars will grow steadily at a rate of 9.5% per year, reaching USD 9.31 billion in 2010.

National OTC Drug Manual In the next five years, the expiration of patents on approximately 47 blockbuster drugs will provide pharmaceutical manufacturers with the opportunity to produce inexpensive generic and biosimilars.

In general, except for Taiwan, China, which is saturated, the Asian generic and biosimilar markets are growing steadily. Although the market size of countries such as Vietnam and Myanmar is relatively small, in the near future, they will generate strong demand for generic drugs and biosimilars. Japan has only started accepting generic products in recent years. It is expected that the country will also become an important growth pole. Japan will occupy a larger share in the Asian generic and biosimilar markets.

The Japanese government has increased the medical expenses that must be borne by wage earners, from 10% to 20%. In 2002, the Japanese Minister of Health issued a notice to public hospitals across the country asking them to use more generic drugs. The notice states that if doctors and pharmacists include a generic drug in their prescriptions, they will receive material rewards. Generic drugs account for only 12% of Japan's 60 billion yen prescription drug market.

Opportunities and Challenges

OTC-Related Books The Asian pharmaceutical market consists of Japan, a highly developed and complex pharmaceutical market, as well as a market with a large but relatively low population such as China and India. Like Canada, the United States, and European countries, biosimilars have not yet landed on the Japanese market because Japan's standards for confirming product safety and effectiveness are quite complex. In India and China, biosimilars have been used for years because of relatively low regulatory standards in these countries. This is because:

(1) India and China have less stringent drug control and quality control requirements than developed countries. When biosimilar manufacturers produce a compound, their efficacy or biological characteristics do not have to reach a certain level as in other countries. . However, Asian governments have taken measures to improve the quality of production, such as requiring production plants to undergo GMP certification, submit regular inspection records, and require continuous improvement of production processes for a considerable period of time.

(2) Due to the inherent difficulty of imitation synthetic biochemicals, these quality problems have been relatively prominent. However, as many biosimilar manufacturers in India and China have gained expertise in the field over the past few years, these issues will soon be resolved.

(3) Since biosimilars are still in the initial stages of introduction, high-quality active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) for large-scale production are difficult to obtain widely. This further limits the ability of manufacturers to continue producing high-quality products. However, as biosimilars are introduced into larger markets such as the United States and Europe, global APIs supply will significantly improve.

(4) Japan has not yet established a regulatory process for biosimilars, as is the United States and Europe.

Non-prescription drugs

Just as Japan's generic drug industry lags behind the rest of the world by several years,

Non-prescription drugs Management procedures have been established in several other important markets in the world, and such procedures will lag behind in Japan by several years.

Despite the challenges, biosimilar manufacturers still have huge opportunities for development in Asia.

(1) With a population of more than 3.7 billion, Asia is the most populous region in the world. The population distribution is also quite concentrated.

(2) Although Asia is a huge potential market, the use of branded biological products has traditionally been restricted in Asia due to the relatively low overall purchasing power in the region. This is due to the high cost of producing biotech drugs. In general, it requires longer development time, more human trials, and therefore more research and development budget. Compared with chemicals, biological products are more expensive. Some biological products used to treat chronic conditions cost more than $ 12,000 per year.

(3) Due to the complexity of biosimilar production, it is expected that pharmaceutical manufacturers will pay expensive "tuition fees" (initial production and marketing costs) before they can increase production. This is particularly important for Indian pharmaceutical companies such as Nanxin, Ruan's, and Wockhardt, which have been rapidly expanding the share of generic drugs they produce in the international market, driving generic drugs into the US and European markets. All of these companies are producing biosimilars.

Chinese market

Due to the downturn in the prescription drug market, many pharmaceutical companies have begun to turn their attention to OTC, and the Chinese non-prescription drug market is extremely active. In 2007, the OTC market continued to expand, and the sales of branded OTC products generally increased. The leading OTC brand products in various categories increased to varying degrees.

China's OTC medicines are directly oriented to consumers. They are consumer-centered, and consumers buy them on their own. They do not need to go through a doctor. They show more characteristics of general consumer products than prescription drugs. Has great potential. It is expected that by 2010 China will become one of the largest pharmaceutical markets in the world, with OTC sales reaching 30-40% of global pharmaceutical sales, and in 2020 it will become the world's largest pharmaceutical market. Facing the huge market cake, global multinational companies such as Janssen, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Shike, and Pfizer have made preparations to seize the Chinese OTC market, and have increased their R & D efforts to accelerate their layout in China.

In addition, China's urban population is growing at a rate of about 20 million every year, and the demand for over-the-counter medicines by urban residents will promote the development of this market; the aging trend of the Chinese population is accelerating, and the medical consumption of this group of people is increasing; the income of urban residents is increasing Faster, its medical and health expenses have also increased correspondingly; the basic medical insurance system and the reform of the medical system have greatly accelerated the growth of the over-the-counter drug market. With the comprehensive promotion of rural "two networks", medical insurance and the new rural cooperative medical system, the rural drug market has gradually become a new hot spot. China's OTC market is very promising.

OTC use

"Old fault" phenomenon

Some patients, based on their own feelings of discomfort or individual obvious signs, judge themselves to be "old-fashioned", so they do not think about choosing a medicine that has been used in the past. Repeated selection of a medicine in this way will cause some disadvantages. Such as: (1) There may be drug-induced diseases due to repeated use of a certain drug. In addition, the recurring factors of old diseases are not the same. Some clinical signs are not completely consistent. It is also difficult to treat the new concurrent signs with the original drugs. (2) Repeated and long-term use of a certain drug is extremely prone to drug resistance, which increases the amount of a certain drug, but the effect is not rampant, but the toxic and side effects are enhanced, leading to worsening of the condition.

Random increase and decrease of drug usage

Some patients can't quantify medications on time, regardless of the length of treatment, and forgetfulness, missed doses, and chaos often occur. Investigate the reason: Some patients have improved a little, and they do nt want to take medicine when their discomfort feels obvious. Some people forget to take it because of busy work or other reasons. If the dosage is increased arbitrarily, or the variety is frequently changed in a short period of time, this kind of non-standard medication, especially antibiotics, can easily lead to the increase of drug-resistant strains and secondary infections, which complicates the disease and brings treatment. difficult. Therefore, the use of over-the-counter drugs should be based on the provisions in the drug manual, and strictly control the dosage and treatment, so as to ensure that the drug is safe and effective.

Unknown self-diagnosis, imitating other people's medication

Some patients do not have a clear self-diagnosis, and feel that certain disease symptoms are similar to others. They imitate other people's medication, but ignore the possibility that a person may have multiple diseases coexist, and the same disease may have multiple symptoms at the same time, even if the diseases are the same. There are also individual differences and different inducing factors among people. Such as common bacterial pneumonia, common clinical manifestations are fever, cough, expectoration, chest pain, increased white blood cell count, etc., according to different causes, can be divided into streptococcal pneumonia, staphylococcus pneumonia, and P. aeruginosa Pneumonia, etc., depending on the pathogenic bacteria, the nature of symptoms, the degree of urgency, etc., the drugs used must be different; it should also be noted that the same drug will have different effects on different patients. Therefore, it is necessary to scientifically use over-the-counter drugs due to illness and people in order to achieve the desired effect.

Multidrug

Some doctors and patients have this mentality. For diseases that are difficult to be diagnosed for a while, multiple drugs are used in combination. It is considered that both prevention and treatment can be achieved. In fact, the combination of unindicated multiple drugs will definitely disrupt the normal defense function of the human body and easily cause drugs and The interaction between drugs, drugs and the body, the incidence of adverse reactions is significantly increased, sometimes complications will be aggravated, and sometimes they will cover up the symptoms and delay the opportunity for accurate diagnosis and treatment of the disease. Therefore, do not use the available and not used drugs, can not use multiple drugs can not be used in combination.

Infrequent use of home medicines

Some people are prepared for emergency use, and they always buy more medicines for home use so that they can be used occasionally. Due to the lack of understanding of the basic knowledge of the drug and the limitations of the family's preservation conditions, the patients cannot be stored and stored according to the characteristics of the drug. Some drugs are wasted due to moisture absorption, mildew, and expiration. Therefore, family medicine should not be prepared for long and should not be prepared more. In storage, according to the physical and chemical properties of the drug, take appropriate measures such as protection from light, humidity, low temperature, and airtightness, and often check, replace, and ensure the quality of family medicines.

In order to improve the ability of self-care, it is recommended to establish a self-care medication record card, which records in detail the health status, the development process of the disease, the name of the drug used, the dosage and usage, and the changes before and after the use of the drug as its own health archives. Through this continuous comparison Analysis and summary of experience and lessons will have important reference value for scientific, rational use of over-the-counter drugs and improving health quality.

OTC knowledge quiz

The role of over-the-counter drugs

What important role does the emergence of over-the-counter drugs play in real society?

The emergence of over-the-counter medicine has greatly promoted the development of self-medication and has a very important role in real life:

Prevention and treatment can be carried out without a doctor's treatment, which is convenient and timely;

Prevent drug abuse and promote rational drug use;

Promote health care in underdeveloped areas and create good conditions for the implementation of "primary health care for all";

Promote the reform of the medical system and lay the foundation for accelerating the implementation of the social medical insurance system;

It is helpful to increase the awareness of self-care and self-medication of the masses and reduce the pressure on the hospital;

It is beneficial to improve the management of marketed drugs and ensure the safety of drug use by the people.

Essential knowledge for over-the-counter medicines

As the saying goes, "Three drugs are poisonous." Although over-the-counter drugs are rigorous by medical experts

Non-prescription drugs They have been selected and approved by the State Drug Administration, but they are still drugs. Therefore, they should also be very careful when using them, and pay attention to the following points:

Through various channels, enrich and improve personal medication knowledge as the basis of self-medication, and facilitate self-judgment of minor illnesses.

The correct selection of over-the-counter medicines with uniform national labeling.

Read the label manual carefully to understand its indications, precautions and adverse reactions.

Carefully check whether the selected medicine has the approval document number and the over-the-counter medicine registration certificate number.

Pay attention to whether the internal and external packaging of the medicine is damaged and valid.

Use the medicine strictly according to the instructions, and do not use it excessively or overtime without authorization. If you have any questions, consult your doctor.

Store medicines as required and keep them out of reach of children.