Knowra Prescription drug Prescription drug A medication that, by law, may be dispensed only with authorization from a licensed healthcare professional. Its restrictions reflect decisions about safe use, monitoring, and misuse.
Prescription : An authorized instruction from a healthcare professional for a patient to receive or use a medication. It supplies the legal authorization pharmacies require to dispense many medicines.
Over-the-counter drug : A medication legally sold without an individualized prescription, subject to applicable rules. It contrasts with medicines whose dispensing requires professional authorization.
Antibiotic : A medicine that kills bacteria or inhibits their growth. Antibiotics commonly require prescriptions and careful selection to limit resistance.
Antimicrobial resistance : The ability of microorganisms to survive medicines that previously inhibited or killed them. Prescription controls can reduce unnecessary antibiotic use, a contributor to resistance.
Pharmacy : The health profession and practice concerned with preparing, dispensing, and advising on medicines. Pharmacists check prescriptions and provide medicines with instructions for safe use.
Controlled substance : A drug subject to additional legal controls because of risks such as dependence or misuse. Some prescription drugs also face stricter prescribing, recordkeeping, and dispensing rules.
Insulin : A hormone that lowers blood glucose and a medicine used to treat diabetes. Insulin dosing often requires an individualized prescription and ongoing adjustment.
Drug regulation : Government oversight of the development, approval, manufacture, marketing, and distribution of medicines. Prescription-only status is one tool within the broader system regulating medicines.
Medication adherence : The extent to which a person's medication-taking behavior matches an agreed treatment plan. A valid prescription helps only when the medicine is taken as intended.
Generic drug : A medicine equivalent to a brand-name drug in active ingredient, strength, dosage form, and intended use. Prescription authorization generally concerns the medicine, not whether it carries a brand name.
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