It used to be that NHS prescriptions had a tick-box inscribed with the letters NP.These letters,standing for nomen proprium,the Latin for "proper name",allowed doctors to keep aspects of their prescribing practices shrouded in mystery.If GPs did not wish their patients to know the name of their medicine,the box could be left without a tick.Older pharmacists will remember when all dispensed medicines were issued with no identifying names.Their labels read "The mixture","The tablets" and so forth.Before 1980 most medical practitioners considered it inappropriate to give their patients such privileged information as the generic or proprietary name of their medicine.Many pharmacists held similar views,myself included.We thought that lay people should be kept in the dark.A popular saying of the time was:"A little knowledge is a dangerous thing." As a supporter,I lamely argued that knowing the correct name of what your doctor had prescribed would lead to sharing of the medicine with others.This attitude derived largely from the notion that most people would never understand the science behind their drug treatments.The credo was that professional activities were best kept private.
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