ABSTRACT
In the 1800s, manufacturers used extravagant promotional techniques, which were reflective of the nation’s level of culture and taste, to sell their products. When consumers purchase and use non-prescription medications they are involved in a process that is popularly known as self-medication. The history of self-medication movement began in the late 1970s or early 1980s. A wider margin of safety is required for non-prescription drugs due to absence of physician and sometimes even pharmacist supervision. The US Justice Department and the National Association of Attorneys General have opposed a third class of drugs, calling such proposals anticompetitive and anti-consumer because they create a monopoly in the distribution of non-prescription drugs. Pharmaceutical companies spent an estimated $1.8 billion on direct-to-consumer advertisements for prescription drugs in 1999. While many over-the-counter drugs can be used during pregnancy and lactation under a physician’s supervision, some are known to be unsafe.
