Prescription Drugs

Prescription Drugs

Prescription Drugs

Prescription drugs are those which are legally prescribed by a medical practitioner in order to relieve the symptoms of an illness. Prescription drugs require this official notification from a General Practitioner (GP) who will issue this to the patient for the purposes of obtaining this medication. These prescribed medicines are issued by either a high street chemist or a hospital pharmacy. They differ from over the counter drugs in that they require this prescription due to the fact that they may carry a greater risk of side effects or are of a higher strength.

Prescription drugs entail a relatively small fee though if required on a regular basis, can become quite costly. However, some groups of patients are exempt from paying prescription charges and so can apply for help in order to do so. These include the unemployed, the elderly (over 60), children under 16 and those on a low income. Proof of status is needed before exemption is granted. This applies to medicines issued on the NHS. For those patients who use private medicine, they will have to pay the full cost of any prescribed medicine directly to the pharmacy. As with any drug there is the risk of misuse in that some are highly addictive in nature and so can result in dependency for many people. For example, certain tranquilisers such as Diazepam and Valium and the antidepressant drug – Prozac.