ArticlePloS one2014
Widening consumer access to medicines through switching medicines to non-prescription: a six country comparison.
Article in PloS one, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 19 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
19 citing papers in PubMed.
- Expanding Pharmaceutical Access Via Over the Counter Drugs.Therapeutic innovation & regulatory science · 2025Article
- Exploring medicine classification and accessibility: a qualitative study.Journal of pharmaceutical policy and practice · 2025Article
- A Detailed Analysis of the Past 20 Years of US FDA-Approved Prescription to Over-the-Counter Switches.Therapeutic innovation & regulatory science · 2023Article
- Increasing Uptake of Maternal Pertussis Vaccinations through Funded Administration in Community Pharmacies.Vaccines · 2022Article
- Why are self-medication opportunities limited in Austria? An interview study and comparison with other countries.PloS one · 2021Article
- Prescription and Non-Prescription Drug Classification Systems Across Countries: Lessons Learned for Thailand.Risk management and healthcare policy · 2020Article
- Analysing the landscape for prescription to non-prescription reclassification (switch) in Germany: an interview study of committee members and stakeholders.BMC health services research · 2019Article
- Double-Dosing and Other Dangers with Non-Prescription Medicines: Pharmacists' Views and Experiences.Pharmacy (Basel, Switzerland) · 2018Article
- Pharmacist supply of sildenafil: pharmacists' experiences and perceptions on training and tools for supply.International journal of clinical pharmacy · 2018Article
- Conscientious objection and person-centered care.Theoretical medicine and bioethics · 2018Article
- Article
- Evaluation between the Usability and Physicochemical Property of Acyclovir Ointments.Journal of pharmaceutics · 2018Article
- Article
- From prescription-only (Rx) to over-the-counter (OTC) status in Germany 2006-2015: pharmacological perspectives on regulatory decisions.European journal of clinical pharmacology · 2017Article
- Pharmacist-only trimethoprim: pharmacist satisfaction on their training and the impact on their practice.International journal of clinical pharmacy · 2016Article
- Is there potential for the future provision of triage services in community pharmacy?Journal of pharmaceutical policy and practice · 2016Review
- Medicine reclassification processes and regulations for proper use of over-the-counter self-care medicines in Japan.Risk management and healthcare policy · 2016Article
- Widening consumer access to medicines: a comparison of prescription to non-prescription medicine switch in Australia and New Zealand.PloS one · 2015Article
- Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundSwitching or reclassifying medicines with established safety profiles from prescription to non-prescription aims to increase timely consumer access to medicines, reduce under-treatment and enhance self-management. However, risks include suboptimal therapy and adverse effects. With a long-standing government policy supporting switching or reclassifying medicines from prescription to non-prescription, the United Kingdom is believed to lead the world in switch, but evidence for this is inconclusive. Interest in switching medicines for certain long-term conditions has arisen in the United Kingdom, United States, and Europe, but such switches have been contentious. The objective of this study was then to provide a comprehensive comparison of progress in switch for medicines across six developed countries: the United States; the United Kingdom; Australia; Japan; the Netherlands; and New Zealand.
methodsA list of prescription-to-non-prescription medicine switches was systematically compiled. Three measures were used to compare switch activity across the countries: "progressive" switches from 2003 to 2013 (indicating incremental consumer benefit over current non-prescription medicines); "first-in-world" switches from 2003 to 2013; and switch date comparisons for selected medicines.
resultsNew Zealand was the most active in progressive switches from 2003 to 2013, with the United Kingdom and Japan not far behind. The United States, Australia and the Netherlands showed the least activity in this period. Few medicines for long-term conditions were switched, even in the United Kingdom and New Zealand where first-in-world switches were most likely. Switch of certain medicines took considerably longer in some countries than others. For example, a consumer in the United Kingdom could self-medicate with a non-sedating antihistamine 19 years earlier than a consumer in the United States.
conclusionProactivity in medicines switching, most notably in New Zealand and the United Kingdom, questions missed opportunities to enhance consumers' self-management in countries such as the United States.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.