Gourt > Society > Issues > Health > Health Policy > Prescription Drugs
A prescription drug (or POM Prescription Only Medicine, in UK) is a licensed medicine that is regulated by legislation to require a prescription before it can be obtained. The term is used to distinguish it from over the counter drugs which can be obtained without a prescription. Different jurisdictions have different definitions of what constitutes a prescription drug. As a general rule, over the counter drugs are used to treat conditions not necessarily requiring a doctor's care and will have been proven to meet higher safety standards for self-medication by patients. Often a lower dosage of a drug will be approved for OTC use, while higher dosages will remain the province of a doctor's prescription; a notable case is ibuprofen, which has been widely available as an OTC pain killer since the mid-1980s but is still available in doses up to four times the OTC dose for use in cases of severe orthopedic pain.
Regulation in United States
In the United States, the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act defines what requires a prescription. Prescription drugs are generally authorized by doctors, though nurse practitioners do an increasing amount of drug prescribing. It is generally required that a physician or a nurse practitioner write the prescription; nurses (other than nurse practitioners), emergency medical technicians, psychologists (but not psychiatrists, who are MDs), as examples, do not generally have the authority to prescribe drugs. Unlike many other countries, the United States does not have price controls for prescription drugs, and US drug prices are often perceived as inflated in comparison to other countries; therefore, most health insurance programs (generally partially or in full paid for by the patient's employer) have prescription payment plans where the patient pays only a small copayment and the pharmacy is reimbursed for the rest of the cost by the insurance company.
Regulation in United Kingdom
In the United Kingdom, a patient visits a doctor (usually a general practitioner in the first instance) who is able to prescribe medicines. If given an NHS prescription, this can be taken to a pharmacy to be dispensed. District nurses and health visitors have had limited prescribing rights since the mid-nineties where prescription for dressings and simple medicines would have had to have been signed by a doctor. Extended prescribing was introduced in late 1999, where appropriately trained nurses could prescribe from a limited list of POMs. From 2006, some nurses and pharmacists will be permitted to prescribe all medicines in the British National Formulary, except controlled drugs directly. Each item on the prescription is liable to a prescription charge of £6.65 (as of April 2006), although many patients are exempt from this charge. This includes those over 60, under 16, patients with certain medical conditions and those on certain benefits. More on [ Prescription drug ]
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Almanac of Policy Issues: Prescription Drugs - Links and background information about U.S. public policy affecting prescription drugs and prescription drug coverage.
Canada Drug Talk - Provides facts, tips and news about importing prescription drugs from Canada.
Meta Description: [ Straight Talk about Importing Prescription Drugs from Canada ]
Canadian Prescription Drug Savings Calculator - Allows consumers to gauge savings on nearly 50 of the most popular prescription medications by picking multiple drugs, different dosage settings and time horizons ranging from one month to 20 years.
Meta Description: [ Allows consumers to gauge savings on nearly 50 of the most popular prescription medications by picking multiple drugs, different dosage settings and time horizons ranging from one month to 20 years. ]
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Meta Description: [ Community Catalyst provides health care policy tools, analysis, and strategies for consumer health activists working to influence the health care system and promote health care justice. ]
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