What can Europe learn from the British experience of POM-to-P switching?

摘要

PROBABLY every pharmacist in the UK has a friend who came back from holiday with stories about how they were able to buy loads of prescription medicines while they were abroad, even antibiotics. Despite anything you may say, they will be convinced that other countries have more over-the-counter products than the UK does. However, that simply is not the case. Nonprescription medicines in most EU countries are still limited to products for indications that are short-term, such as headache or indigestion, where doctors would treat without a formal diagnosis, at least in the first instance. Furthermore, the range of products looks old fashioned compared with what is available in the UK.