The over-the-counter pharmaceutical market – policy and practice

POM medicines are primarily only available to the public when prescribed by a medical practitioner, although historically dentists have long been able to supply from a limited Dental Formulary. More recently in the UK, full prescribing rights have also been accorded to other health care professionals such as nurses and pharmacists, as long as certain specified conditions are met. P medicines can only be sold under the supervision of a pharmacist from premises registered with the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain (RPSGB), and GSLmedicines are available from any retail outlet. When moving from POM through to P then GSL there is an increasing ease of public access to medication and an equivalent decrease in professional control and vice versa. Within this framework are ‘controlled drugs’ (CD) which are subject to additional controls, and herbal medicines which are least controlled (see Table 1).