What You Most Need to Know about No Prescription Drugs

What are no prescription drugs?

“No prescription drugs” is a term used to refer to what is more comonly referred to as over-the-counter or OTC drugs. These are drugs that are freely sold to anyone who is interested in buying without the need for a written prescription from a doctor. This is distinguished from prescription drugs, which are medicines that are only given to people who have the corresponding prescription for it. The line between prescription and over-the-counter drugs is drawn by certain safety issues with regards to intake. Prescription drugs are regulated and closely monitored because they tend to set off certain side effects and may even cause drug dependence. And as the complete opposite, over-the-counter drugs are quite safe and thus, do not need close monitoring. However, the line between them is sometimes blurry, depending on where you live. Some countries are stricter than most in naming whether drugs are prescription or over-the-counter. Such labels also sometimes get changed. For example, some drugs that are originally labeled as prescription drugs can shift to being over-the-counter after they prove to be quite safe. One example of a drug that went from monitored to freely distributed is diphenhydramine or more commonly known as Benadryl. Some people, however, are as unsure about OTC drug as they are about prescription meds. When it comes to prescription meds, people have to worry about side effects. But when it comes to OTC drugs, they have to worry about whether the drugs will have any positive results at all since these drugs are mostly far too mild. Most of the time, they need supplementarry treatment to bring about full relief.

Treating yourself with no prescription drugs

One reason why OTC drugs are very much demanded by a lot of people is the fact that they can be self-administered. A lot of people don’t have time to go to the doctor. And most of the time, people are usually not very keen on going to the doctor for mild problems such as headaches and coughs, which, they know, can easily be resolved by OTC drugs. Some also find it unnecessary especially when they think that the doctor is going to tell them something they already know they should do, like take this and that drug. To find relief for themselves without the hassle of going to the doctor, people choose to self-medicate with well-known OTC medicines. Self-medications are fairly safe as long as excessive dosages are still avoided because no matter how mild a no prescription drug is, excessive intake will still probably elicit some undesirable effects.

Risks involved in taking no prescription drugs

The problem, however, is that OTC drugs are not completely risk-free. In fact, certain famous OTC drugs have been linked to some major diseases. One example is the relationship between Tylenol or acetaminophen and kidney damage. It is believed that acetaminophen can damage the kidneys if it is taken in excessive amounts in general or within a day. Other examples are the ephedra and aspirin. To date, ephedra has been banned due to its fatal effects and its connection to the deaths of certain people in the past. Aspirin is also raising concerns because it has been linked to thousands of deaths in the US alone in a year. Even nasal congestants and cough syrups have been known to show undesirable effects, despite the fact that they are supposed to be mild and safe, being PTC drugs. The danger becomes even bigger because people somehow have this mentality that OTC drugs are completely safe.

No prescription drugs in the United States

In the United States, the Food and Drug Administration is responsible for the regulation of both prescription and non-prescription drugs. Before any drug can enter the mainstream market, it should have an NDA or a New Drug Application. Beyond this, the role of the FDA when it comes to OTC drugs is simply to keep track of all the OTC drugs out there and to classify them according to their different kinds. Other than that, they don’t have any further role in regulating OTC drugs. However, since OTC drugs can be advertised in the mass media, regulation, at least in the promotions aspect, is done strictly by the Federal Trade Commission.