Over-The-Counter (OTC) drugs and drug abuse

Introduction:

With the recent increase in hospital bills and laboratory examination charges, people living in developing countries mostly had form the habit of taking drugs without valid prescription from medical personnel and have resorted to local chemist shops for over-the-counter (OTC) drugs. Many deaths are caused by this careless attitude because it leads to drug abuse.

What are over-the-counter (OTC) drugs?

These are drugs sold directly to a consumer without a valid doctor’s prescription or any professional healthcare personnel.

What are prescription drugs?

These are drugs sold to a consumer possessing a valid prescription from medical personnel

What is drug abuse?

This is the act or habit of taking drugs without doctor’s valid prescription or the patterned consumption of a drug in amounts or methods which are harmful to the user or others.

 You might wonder why I kept using ‘valid prescription’. I used that because a doctor’s prescription might be invalid for some reasons. Example, you suffered from malaria, went for laboratory test where the parasite plasmodium was confirmed. You approached a doctor who gave a prescription which you used to get drugs from the pharmacy. Another time, you started having similar symptoms and concluded it is malaria and fortunately you still have the previous prescription. Approaching a pharmacy with the same prescription makes it though a doctor’s prescription, invalid.

Why do people patronize over-the-counter (OTC) drugs?

There are several reasons why people patronize these drugs and they include:

1.    Illiteracy or ignorance: most people from developing countries are not aware or simply ignore the dangers behind taking over-the-counter drugs.

2.    Poverty: after counting the cost of consulting a medical professional, one can simple resort to what one’s money can afford.

3.    ‘I too know’ syndrome: it is not a disease condition but the act of claiming to know more than your superiors in any field. They simple assume their ailment and offer treatment with the same prescription given to them the last time they suffered the assumed illness.

4.    Belief: People’s beliefs interfere with a lot of things. Some people believe that OTC drugs are enough to cure their disease and they stick to that until their case is worst and hard to handle.

5.    Nosocomephobia: this is the extreme fear of hospitals. So the individual that has this fear would resort to OTC drugs.

Dangers of over-counter-counter (OTC) drugs:

So many things can go wrong with the ingestion an OTC drug.

1.    Exposure to fake drugs: in some countries, drugs are not sold without a valid doctor’s prescription. So whoever that can sell such drugs in such areas might be selling a fake one.

2.    Worsening of sickness: OTC drugs leads to taking the wrong drugs and might worsen the case. Sometimes the ailment is not ascertained but the drugs are taken on assumption of ailment without a valid laboratory test result.

3.    Death: yes death! These drugs might lead to deteriorated stage that cannot be averted and death might occur.

4.    Harmful drugs: some drugs looks alike, so taking one when you suppose to take another might lead to harmful effect. These are carefully differentiated by professionals in the field.

5.    Future problems: some ailment or health issues had been traced back to an OTC drug taken some years back. Example of such case resulted to infertility.

How over-the-counter (OTC) drugs can leads to drug abuse:

The truth of the matter is that every act of taking an OTC drug is an indirect act of drug abuse.

Drugs are meant to be taken at a specific amount for a specific age range or body weight and through a specific method. Example a paracetamol tablet can be taken orally by a specific age range or body weight and such direction is given by a physician. So, drugs taken without prescription are subject to abuse because the user might ignorantly or purposely use it wrongly.

Advice:

‘A stitch in time saves nine’, instead of after weighing the amount you might spend on the hand of a physician, you decide to resort to an OTC drug and ends up in the emergency ward forced to pay much more of it. Always seek medical advice from a trusted medical professional. It is safer to have a trusted family doctor.

Think right, Act right and Live right.