Prescription Drugs Prescription drugs are drugs that require a doctor’s prescription to obtain from a pharmacy or drugstore and are to be used under the supervision or direction of a doctor. Internationally, it is usually denoted by Prescription Drug. or R for short (i.e., the R commonly found in the upper left corner of a doctor’s prescription).　　Prescription drugs generally include: new drugs that have just been marketed: their activity and side effects have to be further observed; certain drugs that can produce dependence: such as morphine analgesics and certain hypnotic tranquilizers; drugs that are inherently toxic: such as anti-cancer drugs; certain diseases that must be diagnosed by doctors and laboratories, and the use of drugs that require a doctor’s prescription and are used under the guidance of a doctor, such as cardiovascular disease drugs. Zhang Yanping, Department of Respiratory Medicine, Xiyuan Hospital, Chinese Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine As opposed to prescription drugs, non-prescription drugs are those that consumers can buy directly from pharmacies or drugstores without holding a doctor’s prescription. The internationally used terms are: Nonprescription Drug, Over the Counter Drug, abbreviated as OTC Drug, which has now become the customary international term for the abbreviation of over-the-counter drugs. Most of these drugs belong to the following conditions: cold, fever, cough; digestive system diseases; headache; joint diseases; allergies such as rhinitis; nutritional supplements, such as vitamins, certain herbal supplements, etc. Brands, identifiers, labels and terms containing OTC guidance Internationally, OTC drugs have their own unique symbols in terms of brands and identifiers, such as brands that should make every effort to be unified, while paying attention to continuous innovation to increase their visibility in order to be sold in chain stores, and also branding as a measure to protect their products. Labels should clearly distinguish whether the drug is used as a prescription or over-the-counter drug, for example, prescription drugs in the United States are required to state “Federal Law Prohibits Dispensing Without Prescription” (Federal Law Prohibits Dispensing Without Prescription), while over-the-counter drug labels should have “Adequate Direction foruse” ( Adequate Direction foruse), the United Kingdom, Germany, Japan and other countries also have similar words or logo. The check label should be expressed in words that normal people can understand, or even illustrated, so that consumers can use OTC drugs correctly with the label. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration proposed non-prescription drug labeling of seven items: (1) the name of the product; (2) the name and address of the manufacturer, packer or distributor; (3) the contents of the package; (4) all active ingredients INN (International Generic Name of generic drugs) name; (5) certain other components such as ethanol, alkaloids, etc. content; (6) consumer protection precautions and advice (6) consumer protection precautions and advice; (7) appropriate medication guidance for the safe and correct use of the drug. Therefore, people can generally identify OTC drugs by their brands, identifiers, labels, and phrases containing OTC instructions. Advertising All countries in the world that have a system for classifying prescription and over-the-counter drugs strictly prohibit prescription drugs from being advertised to the public, but allow their product information 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 non-prescription drugs can be advertised in the mass media upon approval.” Other countries have different restrictions on OTC drugs advertising to the public, such as the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, New Zealand and other countries allow OTC drug advertising, while Italy, Spain, France, etc. do not allow advertising of reimbursable OTC drugs and OTC drugs using prescription drug brands, except for OTC drugs that require a certificate of approval before advertising. Recently, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has allowed TV commercials for prescription drugs, but only with the phrase “under the direction of a physician or pharmacist”. Concerned about the changes in the OTC drug directory OTC drugs are not set in stone after the implementation of the formulation, every 3 to 5 years to re-evaluate the new, the best and the worst to ensure the effectiveness and safety of OTC. With the development of pharmaceutical technology, a large number of new drugs on the market, the understanding of each OTC is also growing, some prescription drugs are unlikely to become non-prescription drugs, but after changing the dosage form or reduce the specifications of the dose may also become OTC, that is, those with better performance, safer and more effective OTC drugs added to eliminate part of the obsolete OTC drugs, such as the current world OTC main categories are The following six kinds of drugs: antipyretic and analgesic, cough and cold medicine, digestive system drugs, dermatological drugs, tonic drugs, vitamins, trace elements and additives. The following categories of drugs may be marketed as OTC after conversion: antiasthmatic drugs, oral contraceptives, muscle relaxants, cardiovascular drugs (excluding calcium antagonists) and anti-infectives.