GPs lack awareness of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs available over the counter

BMJ 1996;313:116 (13 July)

Letters

GPs lack awareness of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs available over the counter

EDITOR,--Neither James G Kennedy's editorial on over the counterdrugs¹ nor Jo Erwin and colleagues' short report on generalpractitioners' views on over the counter sales by communitypharmacists² mentions the availability of non-steroidal anti-inflammatorydrugs over the counter. I wish to highlight findings from mysurvey.³

One hundred general practitioners were sent a standard questionnaire;70 questionnaires were returned and analysed. Twenty four respondentssaid that they regularly asked their patients whether they boughtnon-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs over the counter; therest either did so occasionally or never did so. Only a fewpractitioners were aware that some of the non-steroidal anti-inflammatorydrugs--for example, benorylate (14)-- were available over thecounter, but there was greater awareness of the availabilityof other drugs, such as ibuprofen (60). When asked about thebrand names available without prescription most respondentshad not heard of some of the brands--for example, Proflex (56)--althoughmost . . . [Full text of this article]