Prescription Definition Parts Pharmaceutics Notes PDF Books
It is an order written by a physician, dentist, veterinarian or a registered medical practitioner (RMP) to a pharmacist to compound and dispense a specific drug for the patient. OR
A prescription is a written order for medication, issued by a physician or RMP. Prescription is the relationship between physician and pharmacist.
The word “prescription” is derived from the Latin term praescriptus. (Prae – ‘before’ and scribere- meaning ‘to write’).
Prescription means ‘to write before’ which means a prescription had to be written before a drug could be compounded and administered to a patient.
Superscription (symbol ℞)
Inscription (Medication prescribed)- Main part of the prescription
Subscription(Direction to Pharmacist/Dispenser )
Signatura or Transcription (Direction for Patient)
Prescriber’s signature and registration number.
Prescriber office information
Date
Patient information (Name, Age, Sex And Address Of The Patient)
Superscription (symbol ℞)
Inscription (Medication prescribed)- Main part of the prescription
Subscription(Direction to Pharmacist/Dispenser )
Signatura or Transcription (Direction for Patient)
Renewal instructions
Prescriber’s signature and registration number.
- Physician (Prescriber) office Information:
Information about physician is essential so that the patient could be contact in emergency. Following information is mentioned on the prescription
i. Doctor’s or office name.
ii. Address with phone number and e-mail.
iii. Prescription number (required when calling the pharmacy for a refill)
- Date
It helps a pharmacist to find out the date of prescribing.
It also helps in know when the medicines were last dispensed if the prescription is brought for redispens.
In case of habit forming drug the date prevents the misuse of the drug by the patient
- Patient information
PATIENT INFORMATION (Name, Age, Sex and Address of the Patient)
Name and address of the patient for identification purpose.
Age and sex of the patient is required for child patient to check the prescribed dose.
4. SUPERSCRIPTION (symbol ℞)
It is represented by ℞ (Latin term) „recipe‟ which means „take thou‟ or „you take‟.
In the olden days, the symbol was considered to be originated from the sign of Jupiter.
Jupiter is the Greek God of healing.
This symbol was used for requesting God for the quick recovery of the patient.
- INSCRIPTION (Medication prescribed)
It is the main part of the prescription.
It contains the names and quantities of the prescribed medicaments.
The medicament may be official preparation or nonofficial preparation.
a.) Official preparation (i.e. from pharmacopoeia) – Only name of the preparation is written E.g. Piperazine Citrate Elixir IP
b.) Nonofficial preparation- Quantity of each ingredient will be given and type of preparation will also be given
- SUBSCRIPTION (Direction to Pharmacist)
In this part the prescriber gives direction to the pharmacista) Regarding the dosage form to be prepared.
b) Number of doses to be dispensed.
- SIGNATURA (Direction for Patient)
To be placed on the label.
It is usually written as „Sig.‟.
The signatura written in english and use some
Latin abbreviations like t.i.d (thrice a day),
b.i.d (twice a day) and o.d (once a day).
Instructions should be written on the label of container so that the patient can follow them.
The instructions may include-
a) Quantity to be taken(dose of drug)
b) Frequency and timing of administration of the preparation (dose interval)
c) Route of administration
d) Special instruction (if any)
- RENEWAL INSTRUCTIONS
The number of times a prescription is to be repeated is written by the physician.
It is very important for the case of habit forming drugs to prevent its misuse.
- PRESCRIBER’S SIGNATURE AND REGISTRATION NUMBER
The prescription must be signed by the prescriber by his / her own hand.
Registration number should be written in the case of dangerous and habit forming drugs.
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