Prescription or medication orders. Lecturer: Dr. Asmaa abdelaziz, Ph.D Department of pharamcay Ibn Hayyan University college

Prescription drugs& Non-prescription Drugs are divided into: Prescription drugs Non-prescription drugs. The prescription drugs Which are those that should not be dispensed without a prescription The non-prescription drugs, Which also called over the counter (OTC), are defined as the drugs that may be sold without a prescription 2

Prescription A prescription is defined as an order for medication from a doctor, dentist or veterinarian. A prescription starts with the traditional symbol 𝑹𝒙 (meaning ‘‘take) 3

Categories of Prescriptions It is important to recognize two categories of prescriptions: 1. Those written for a single component or prefabricated product and not requiring compounding by the pharmacist. 2. Those written for more than a single component and requiring compounding. 4

Examples of Prescription Prescription calling for trade name Hospital prescription Prescription for generic Compounding Prescription 5

PRESCRIPTION CALLING FOR TRADE NAME Figure 1: Components of a typical prescription. The labels are as follows: (1)Prescriber information and signature (2) Patient information (3) Date (4) 𝑹𝒙 symbol (5) Medication prescribed (6) Dispensing instructions to the pharmacist (7) Directions to the patient (8) Special instructions 6

HOSPITAL PRESCRIPTION Figure 2: Typical hospital medication order.   7

PRESCRIPTION FOR GENERIC 8

COMPOUNDING PRESCRITIPN 9

Prescription Accuracy It is the responsibility of the pharmacist to ensure that each medication should be: 1. Suitable for the patient 2. Prescribed at the correct dose. 3. Dispensed in the correct strength and dosage form. 4. Correctly labeled with complete instructions for the patient. 5. For the patient in a hospital, each medication must be administered to the correct patient, at the correct time, and by the correct rate and route of administration.  10

Use of Abbreviations and Symbols   Meaning Ad up to D.W distilled water q.s sufficient quantity Sig. write (directions on labile) tbsp. tablespoonful tsp. teaspoonful b.i.d twice a day t.i.d three times a day q.i.d four times a day amp. ampoule cap. capsule inj. injection

Cont. Use of Abbreviations and Symbols oint.   ointment sol. solution supp. suppository susp. suspension syr. syrup tab. tablet IM intramuscular IV intravenous S.Q. subcutaneous

Recommendations: Among the recommendations to help reduce the medication errors arising from poorly written or misinterpreted prescriptions are the followings: * Leave a space between the number and the unit (e.g., 10 mg and not 10mg). * Use the full names of drugs and not abbreviations (e.g., use aspirin and not asp.) * Spell out ‘‘units’’ (e.g., use 100 units and not 100 U since an illegible U may be misread as a zero, resulting in a 10-fold error, i.e., 1000). The abbreviation I.U., which is used for ‘‘International Units’’ should also be spelled out so it is not interpreted as I.V., meaning ‘‘intravenous.’’

References 1- Ansel C. Howard and Stoklosa J. Mitchell in “Pharmaceutical Calculations”, 12 ed., Lippincott, 2013

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