Prescription pills or medications without a prescription? This is a debate that will probably never reach a logical conclusion. Prescription pills have competition from two sources: over-the-counter drugs and medications that are available without a prescription. Whereas medications without a prescription have scientific medical support, the same cannot be said about ALL medications available over-the-counter. Medications that you get without a pre-written prescription are mostly drugs that have been copied from branded medications. This is how it is actually done. When a new drug is launched by a company, there is a lot of expense that has gone into its development. The pharmaceutical company spends thousands of dollars, sometimes hundreds and thousands, in R&D and clinical trials. Prescription pills are expensive simply because in order to recover its cost the drug is patented. That allows the innovator a monopoly over production and distribution of the new drug. However, this patent protection is limited and may be only for 10 to 15 years. (It is another thing that companies fight tooth and nail to get this monopoly extended.) Once the patent protection expires, other pharmaceutical companies pitch in and start manufacturing drugs using the same active ingredient. The new entrant in the field can sell the same drug cheap and still make a profit as it has not spent anything on R&D.

Medications without a prescription are generally known as over-the-counter drugs, which cannot be classified as prescription pills. A distinction must be made between generic drugs and medicines available over-the-counter. A generic drug may also fall under the category of prescription pills as quite of few of them cannot be sold without a prescription. All over-the-counter medications are not generic versions of proven medications. These include herbal preparations and other formulations that are marketed as natural products.

A generic medicine is one that has a proven track record even if the clinical trials have been conducted by a company other than the manufacturer of the generic version. Prescription pills are those that are normally not available unless you have a pre-written prescription from a qualified doctor. You may, however, get the same medications without a prescription provided you look for the same active ingredient in a generic version.

A generic version usually comes out within 7 to 12 years of the launch of the original drug although drug patents in the US give protection for twenty years. This is because the discoverer applies for a patent before clinical trials begin. Next time you want to buy medications without a prescription, keep the distinction between generic versions and over-the-counter drugs in mind. Generic drugs are bioequivalent of prescription pills.

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