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Describe the OTC (Over the Counter) Drug Categories

We all are very familiar with the term “OTC drugs”, OTC drugs are the over the counter drugs. These are the medicines which do not requires any prescription from medical professional for purchasing from chemist shop.

· OTC Drug
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We all are very familiar with the term “OTC drugs”, OTC drugs are the over the counter drugs. These are the medicines which do not requires any prescription from medical professional for purchasing from chemist shop, because these drugs do not belong to ‘’SCHEDULE H’’. The drugs belong to Schedule H must need prescriptions before purchasing.

Over the counter medicines are generally used for the treatment of pain cause by arthritis, sprains, headache, muscles and joint pain, contraception, fever, cough, allergies, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, skin rashes and itching etc.

Drugs falls under OTC (Over the counter) categories

  • Acetaminophen or commonly known as Paracetamol. This is the most common drug falls under over the counter drugs, generally used for reducing the elevated temperature of body as well as used as pain relevant.
  • Ibuprofen - OTC drug is indicated as pain reliever and in reducing fever.
  • Naproxen - another OTC drug indicated for the treatment of aches, headaches and pains.
  • Aspirin - Aspirin is another very common OTC drug indicated in treatment of fever and pain. But it should not be used by children until it is prescribed by medical professionals.
  • Guaifenesin - It is another common OTC drug used in the treatment of cough.
  • Cough syrups - General cough syrups used for cough relieving also falls under OTC category.
  • Pseudoephedrine - used as oral decongestants and belongs to OTC category.
  • Phenylephrine - It is also used as oral decongestants and belongs to OTC category.
  • Old antihistaminic drugs - drugs like clemastine, diphenhydramine, chlorpheniramine, brompheniramine etc falls under OTC category drugs but they have side effects like sleepiness.
  • Modern antihistaminic drugs- drugs like loratadine, fexofenadine, cetirizine, levocetrizine etc falls under OTC category and they have less side effects as compares to old antihistaminics.
  • Antifungal medicines - drugs like clotrimazole, miconazole, ketoconazole are used for treatment of fungal rashes, itching etc.

These all medicines are easily available on any chemist shop in India, as there are many pharmaceutical manufacturers have manufacturing facilities for these general over the counter medicines, and Affy group is one of leading pharmaceutical company involved in general tablet manufacturing, they also involved in liquid and capsules (Hard gelatin capsules and soft gelatin capsules) manufacturing for pharmaceutical contract manufacturing, third party manufacturing, generic manufacturing as well as for export manufacturing.