Introduction: Nowadays self-medication becomes more and more popular among the patients. One of the main prerequisites for this is the presence of an increasing number of medicinal products that people can buy without a prescription. This group of drugs is the focus of the pharmaceutical companies around the world, due to the increased sales in this segment and the variety of opportunities for promotion and advertising.
The aim of this study is to present the factors that result in change of regime in prescribing of a medicinal product and to analyze the competences of pharmacists in managing the process of self-medication of the patients.
Methods: Assessment of the main premises leading to the change of status of prescribing of medicines was performed. We described and classified the main implications and trends in the conducting of this process. Addition task of the study was to identify the learning objectives of the students in pharmacy, during their education in pharmaceutical marketing.
Results and Discussion: In recent decades it is observed an enhanced tendency to increase the number of drugs with a change in the regime of prescribing. With the accumulation of more data on safety, regulatory agencies allow pharmaceutical companies to apply for change of status of some of their medicines. Thus patients are facilitated in accessing treatment for their symptoms and can perform the self-medication, without the need to visit the doctor. However, globally some strict criteria have been developed which a medicinal product must fulfill, for authorizing its sale as a medicine without a prescription (OTC status). Students in pharmacy needed some additional knowledge to achieve during their education in pharmaceutical marketing.
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