Healthy Skepticism Library item: 11959
Warning: This library includes all items relevant to health product marketing that we are aware of regardless of quality. Often we do not agree with all or part of the contents.
Publication type: report
Better Regulation of Nonprescription Medicines
: World Self-Medication Industry 2007 Oct 23
http://www.wsmi.org/pdf/brochure_betterregulation.pdf
Abstract:
Contents
Executive summary
Section I
The purposes of regulation of nonprescription medicines
Section II
The opportunity to make more use of nonprescription medicines
Section III
Appropriate regulation of nonprescription medicines
Section IV
Addressing existing over-regulation
Executive summary
All too often around the world, regulation of nonprescription medicines is not clearly distinguished from that of prescription medicines. This lack of distinction places limits on achieving an optimal level of public health (through appropriate patient and consumer usage) and negatively impacts the international competitiveness of the nonprescription industry. Nonprescription medicines are in fact different from prescription medicines in some significant and under-appreciated ways.
Better regulation is a big issue in developed countries at the moment. The challenge for all countries is to recognise and reconcile the different objectives of regulation, and to avoid unintended consequences of the inappropriate application of prescription drug regulation to the nonprescription sector. Public health and consumer safety will not be compromised by more
appropriate and proportionate regulation of nonprescription medicines. In fact, it is possible to promote responsible usage of these medicines while diminishing ‘self-prescription,’ the inadvertent and irrational use of prescription drugs without the intervention and supervision of a medical doctor – an all-too common practice in developing countries.
This booklet examines the underlying objectives of regulation of nonprescription products. These are commonly taken to mean over-the counter (OTC) or nonprescription medicines, but can also include traditional/herbal products and other products that have some form of medical or disease
claim, including vitamins and minerals…
