Counter Medicines Research Articles

Fast and Direct Microwave Synthesis of Carbon from Bovine Blood Waste: A Feedstock Material for Extractive Metallurgy, Carbon Dots Production and Graphite Synthesis

Direct irradiation of slaughterhouse bovine blood waste in a domestic microwave oven results in fast carbonization and subsequent formation of carbon nanosheets at yield of 2% after copiously washing off any by-products. Since nearly 5 billion L of slaughterhouse bovine blood is globally produced every year as inevitable part of meat production, the total amount of carbon that could be annually produced by this simple and cost-effective microwave technology reaches the impressive value of 100,000 metric tons per year, albeit the relatively low carbon yield of the process. This large quantity of carbon with well-defined structure and composition could be further exploited in carbothermal extractive metallurgy (e.g., the extraction of copper from copper oxide) or as a cheap and plentiful raw material towards the production of other important carbon materials, such as photoluminescent carbon dots, synthetic graphite and graphene. The direct, simple and affordable microwave conversion of bovine blood waste into useful carbon material represents another example of blood waste valorization that is complementary to the extraction of bioactive compounds for the food or pharmaceuticals industry. It is interesting to note that the same microwave approach can be applied as well for the direct and fast carbonization of expired over the counter medicines, such-like drug effervescent tablets (e.g., analgesic paracetamol), giving carbon at high yield with useful properties (e.g., hexavalent chromium removal).

OTC MEDICINE MARKETING IN SOCIAL MEDIA: INDICATIVE SCIENTIFIC ANALYSIS OF PHARMATON AND SUPRADYN ADVERTISEMENTS

The feedback loop provided by Web 2.0 technology provides an important opportunity for companies to keep the pulse of the consumer. In addition, the low cost of advertising has made social media channels attractive as an advertising platform. In recent years, the increasing importance of new internet and social media technologies as a source of health information has led the pharmaceutical industry to digital channels. The number of drug promotion in the world and Turkey is subject to legal regulations. The products in the group in Turkey only over the counter medicine can be advertised. In this context, in this study, semiotic analysis of the advertisements of Pharmaton and Supradyn supplements on Facebook, Instagram and Youtube, which are classified as non-prescription drugs, has been made in order to reveal how social media environments are used in pharmaceutical marketing. A total of nine advertisements of the products, which were published on the mentioned social media channels between 01.03.2019-31.03.2019, were examined. It has been determined that the promotion of both products focuses on health, wellness and the energy provided by the products with linguistic and visual indicators.

A review of prescribing over the counter medicines (OTC's) in the OMFS department, Ipswich Hospital

It has been noted in the press and literature recently that there is a high number of over the counter medicines being prescribed across the national health service e.g. Paracetamol. This is a topic that has not been investigated within this speciality before. The aim of this service review was to investigate the amount of OTC's being prescribed by the OMFS department at Ipswich Hospital. Data was collected via an information spread sheet provided by the hospital pharmacy. The service review considered all out patient prescriptions between October 2017 and October 2019. All OTC's during these time periods were highlighted and investigated. The service review was conducted over two one year periods respectively. The total department spend on OTC's between October 2017 and October 2018 was £2741. Common OTC's prescribed were Difflam mouthwash and spray, Corsydyl mouthwash and Miconazole oral gel. The results were presented to the department at an audit meeting. The total spend had reduced significantly in the second year (October 2018–October 2019) to £182.This service review highlighted the amount of OTC's that were prescribed and the great need to reduce this. Clinicians could reduce the amount of OTC's prescribed and by so, reduce hospital cost. Change has been implemented by raising awareness amongst clinicians and other health care professionals. Lists of all OTC medication relevant to our department have been put up in all surgeries. The authors would like to encourage other departments to carry out a similar quality improvement project, to reduce spends nationally.

The availability, use and disposal of malaria and HIV rapid diagnostic test kits in health facilities in the greater Accra region of Ghana

Background: The Malaria and HIV rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) are some of the commonest tests that are used in Ghana to support malaria and HIV management/care respectively. When these devices are used, they are categorized as potentially infectious. This paper aims to highlight the availability and management of used malaria and HIV RDTs in various healthcare facilities and by health service providers in the greater Accra region of Ghana.Methods: Data was obtained from 400 health facilities including hospitals, clinics, health centres, and pharmacies and over the counter medicine seller’s shops using purposive sampling technique with the aid of structured questionnaires and observation of practices.Results: Seventy percent of the facilities (n=280) used only malaria RDTs, 29% (n=116) used both malaria and HIV RDTs and 1% (n=4) reported using HIV RDTs only. 81.7% (n=326) which formed the majority used less than 10 RDTs daily. There was poor waste segregation, storage, transportation, treatment and disposal of waste. Facilities that had some sort of on-site treatment of waste used single chambered incinerators.Conclusions: Each of the categories of health facilities had a common practice of poor hazardous waste management. We therefore recommend that there should be enhancement of education and training of practitioners in the health facilities and the general public on the optimal use of the RDTs and disposal or the management of healthcare waste in general. The environmental protection agency and ministry of health should collaborate and enforce all the regulations on healthcare waste management in the various facilities.

A CRITICAL ANALYSIS STUDY ON OTALGIA MANAGEMENT BY GARLIC DROPS AND BENZOCAINE DROPS- AN ATTEMPT TO COMPARE THE EFFICACY OF MODERN AND AYURVEDA MEDICINE IN A SINGLE AILMENT

Otalgia or ear ache is a symptom which will hamper the daily activities of individual, and a cause of unease or discomfort. There might not be any single individual who has not affected with earache in their lifetime, atleast once in their span of life..Even today there is no specific permanent remedy to this condition in advance modern medical system despite of some Otogesics which will only mask the pain. The common Over the Counter medicines available on medical stores are having side effects on continuous usage. So there is a need for safe Ayurvedic medicine which can acts better like modern analgesics but less side effects. Methodology: In this comparative study of Lasuna putapaka swarasa (Garlic Drops) and Benzocaine Otogesic drops, 40 patients of Otalgia were randomly selected and divided to two groups of 20 patients each. Group A was treated with the ear drops of Lasunaputapaka swarasa (Garlic Drops) and Group B was treated with Benzocaine Otogesic ear drops. Observations: It was observed in the present study that Group A showed better results in reducing the symptoms of Otalgia. Re-occurrence of symptoms were merely less in Group A patients compared to Group B patients. Conclusion: There is a false assumption that Ayurvedic medicines are slow acting and desperately using for pain management and acute conditions. But this study throwing a light to substantiate that, Ayurvedic medicines are potent enough to manage acute otalgia also, just like Otogesics in Modern Medical Science. The study revealed that the re-occurrence rate of symptoms was very less in patients who used Garlic drops and was safe acting also.

The cost-effectiveness of azithromycin in reducing exacerbations in uncontrolled asthma.

Add-on azithromycin (AZM) results in a significant reduction in exacerbations among adults with persistent uncontrolled asthma. The aim of this study was to assess the cost-effectiveness of add-on AZM in terms of healthcare and societal costs.The AMAZES trial randomly assigned 420 participants to AZM or placebo. Healthcare use and asthma exacerbations were measured during the treatment period. Healthcare use included all prescribed medicine and healthcare contacts. Costs of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) were estimated based on overall consumption and published estimates of costs. The value of an avoided exacerbation was based on published references. Differences in cost between the two groups were related to differences in exacerbations in a series of net monetary benefit estimates. Societal costs included lost productivity, over the counter medicines, steroid induced morbidity and AMR costs.Add-on AZM resulted in a reduction in healthcare costs (mean (95% CI)) including nights in hospital (AUD 433.70 (AUD 48.59-818.81) or EUR 260.22 (EUR 29.15-491.29)), unplanned healthcare visits (AUD 20.25 (AUD 5.23-35.27) or EUR 12.15 (EUR 3.14-21.16)), antibiotic costs (AUD 14.88 (AUD 7.55-22.21) or EUR 8.93 (EUR 4.53-13.33)) and oral corticosteroid costs (AUD 4.73 (AUD 0.82-8.64) or EUR 2.84 (EUR 0.49-5.18)); all p<0.05. Overall healthcare and societal costs were lower (AUD 77.30 (EUR 46.38) and AUD 256.22 (EUR 153.73) respectively) albeit not statistically significant. The net monetary benefit of add-on AZM was estimated to be AUD 2072.30 (95% CI AUD 1348.55-2805.23) or (EUR 1243.38 (EUR 809.13-1683.14) assuming a willingness to pay per exacerbation avoided of AUD 2651 (EUR 1590.60). Irrespective of the sensitivity analysis applied, the net monetary benefit for total, moderate and severe exacerbations remained positive and significant.Add-on AZM therapy in poorly controlled asthma was a cost-effective therapy. Costs associated with AMR did not influence estimated cost-effectiveness.

PARACETAMOL, MIGRAINE, AND MEDICATION OVERUSE HEADACHE (MOH)

Paracetamol is a nonopioid synthesized p-aminophenol derivative that used as an antipyretic and an analgesic. Paracetamol is an over the counter medicine. 15.6% of migraine patients took paracetamol for headache relief. In migraine, paracetamol is used long term. This triggers paracetamol to cause Medication Overuse Headache (MOH). Animal studies associated paracetamol induced MOH based on pathophysiology migrenes. There three mechanism underline MOH include effect to korteks cerebral, effect to system trigeminal nociception, and effect to central modulating systems.

EFFECTIVENESS OF INFORMATION, EDUCATION AND COMMUNICATION (IEC) PACKAGE ON KNOWLEDGE AND ATTITUDE REGARDING OVER THE COUNTER (OTC) DRUGS AMONG ADULTS

Self medication is one of the major reasons for the irrational use of medicines. Globally, self medication practices are more frequently observed for the Over The Counter (OTC) medicines (WHO,

Dataset of certified food dye levels in over the counter medicines and vitamins intended for consumption by children and pregnant women.

Food, Drug, & Cosmetic (FD&C) dyes can be found in various products outside of food that are consumed by children. The amount of FD&C dyes used in commercial products is proprietary. Determining the contribution of dye intake from commercial products requires direct assessment of FD&C dyes in the products. This dataset contains the raw data of HPLC peak areas, absolute values, averages, SDs and % RSD for FD&C dyes in children's gummy vitamins, children's tablet vitamins, prenatal vitamins, children's cough/cold/allergy tablets & syrups, and children's pain reliever tablets & syrups obtained using high performance liquid chromatography with a photometric diode array detector (HPLC-PDA). The data can be used for further interpretations of dye intake in children, based upon dose levels suggested for distinct age groups, to evaluate the consumption of the FD&C dyes and accepted daily intake (ADIs) suggested for each FD&C dye by the United States Food & Drug Administration (US FDA). The variability associated within each category is critical for understanding how products on the market can differ between lot especially with large gaps between expiration dates. The interpretation of the data is described in “Certified Food Dyes in Over the Counter Medicines and Supplements Marketed for Children and Pregnant Women” in the Journal of Food and Chemical Toxicology [1].

Personal protective practices and pharmacy services delivery by community pharmacists during COVID-19 pandemic: Results from a national survey.

IntroductionCoronavirus disease (COVID19) has adversely affected the delivery of various health services. Little is known about the impact of COVID19 on pharmacy services across the United Kingdom (UK). We surveyed community pharmacists across the UK to understand their protective practices, professional and general well-being, and the delivery of pharmacy services during the COVID19 pandemic.MethodsCommunity pharmacists were invited to participate in a cross-sectional survey via the nationwide weekly newsletter of Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee and the local pharmaceutical committees during the second week of May 2020. The survey remained open for 4 weeks.ResultsA total of 206 pharmacists responded to the survey with representations from England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. The majority of pharmacists (>75% or above) reported an increase in customer traffic to their pharmacy and were asking relevant questions from patients with flu-like symptoms before signposting them to the appropriate care. Most pharmacists (>85%) were maintaining a safe distance of 2 m from customers and 72% were wearing an N95 protective mask and 28% were using protective gloves and apron in addition to safe distancing and protective masks. Ninety-nine percent of pharmacists reported drug shortages with 38% and 26% reported significant drug shortages and critical drug shortages causing disruptions beyond over the counter medicines. Eighty-nine percent pharmacists reported inappropriate behaviour from patients or carers with 31% and 16% reported it to be a regular or frequent problem, respectively. Fifty-three% of pharmacists were willing to offer their assistance for mass testing of COVID19 antibodies if adequate training and reimbursement are provided.ConclusionCommunity pharmacists in the UK are facing considerable challenges in terms of personal protection and the delivery of pharmacy services. Inappropriate behaviour from patients and carers towards community pharmacists require urgent attention to ensure a safe working place for all community pharmacists.

Certified food dyes in over the counter medicines and supplements marketed for children and pregnant women

Food, Drug, & Cosmetic (FD&C) dyes are synthetic color additives used in food, prescription drugs and over-the-counter medicines (OTCs). Consumption of FD&C dyes has been associated with neurobehavioral behavior in some children. The amount of dye used in commercial products is proprietary, making it difficult to assess dietary intake and determine exposure in children. To date, no studies have examined FD&C dyes in OTCs or vitamins in the United States. To address this, FD&C Red No. 40, Yellow No. 5, Yellow No. 6, Blue No. 1, and Blue No. 2 levels were measured in prenatal vitamin tablets, children's chewable and gummy vitamins, pain reliever tablets and syrups, and cough/cold/allergy tablets and syrups. Dyes were isolated using solid phase extraction (SPE) and quantified by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Dye levels varied between products with highest levels in pain reliever and cough/cold/allergy syrups. Significant variability was observed within some brands. Degradation of Red No. 40, Blue No. 1, and Yellow No. 6 was observed in the vitamin gummies. Intake of FD&C Red No. 40 is two times the US FDA ADI (accepted daily intake) for some children's pain reliever syrups and almost three times the US FDA ADI for some cough/cold/allergy syrups.

Cytyzyna w terapii zaprzestania palenia tytoniu

Tobacco smoking is one of the leading causes of death among people. Cytisine, a plant alkaloid considered to be the oldest medication for smoking cessation, has been used in Poland since the 1970s. The drug is a partial nicotinic receptor agonist, with pharmacological actions close to those of nicotine and varenicline (a synthetic cytisine derivative and most expensive smoking cessation medication currently available). Cytisine has several advantages compared to existing smoking cessation drugs, including: 1) it is more effective than placebo and nicotine replacement therapy, and at least as effective as varenicline, 2) its use is associated with a low frequency of adverse events, 3) it is available as over the counter medicine and is much cheaper than other smoking cessation drugs that are cost-prohibitive, 4) it derives from a natural plant and may be preferred by smokers who do not want to use other treatments, 5) it has shorter duration of treatment (i.e. 25 days) compared to other medicines for smoking cessation. This review describes the use of cytisine for nicotine addiction treatment, mechanism of anti-smoking action, pharmacokinetics, efficacy, tolerability and safety.

Health Profile of the Bicol University Teaching Workforce

This paper looked into the health profile of the Bicol University (BU) teaching workforce, including their health profile along usual blood pressure (BP) reading, and body mass index (BMI), their health practices in terms of supplements taken, use of over the counter medicines for common ailments, and prescribed medications taken for diagnosed non-communicable diseases. Finally, it determined the specific health preventive measures they practiced in the aspect of consultations with the doctor, laboratory tests, and health insurance owned. This is a descriptive, cross sectional study. It made use of semi-structured survey questionnaire and interview guide. FGD and interview were undertaken to affirm answers given through survey. The findings revealed that in the health profile along usual BP reading, 49 teaching workforce or 28.40% have a BP reading below 120/80 mmHg. In the computed BMI, 73 or 42.44% are overweight, 69 or 40.12% respondents are healthy and only 11 or 6.40% are obese. The teaching workforce are taking supplements like vitamins B, C, and E, and minerals like iron, potassium, magnesium and other multivitamins. In the over the counter medicines taken for common ailments paracetamol is for headache, fever, cough/colds, and body aches/pain, ibuprofen for headache, dysmenorrhea and body aches/pains, and decongestants for cough/colds. For the prescribed medicines for diagnosed non-communicable diseases, respondents mentioned metformin for diabetes, losartan/amlodipine for hypertension, and seretide for asthma. One health preventive measure they practice is, 91 or 52.91% consults with the doctor once a year, only 36 or 20.93% have a health insurance. The paper concludes that the BU teaching workforce considers their health fundamentally essential and they maintain a good type of health profile. They manifest good health practices and work in improving health practices and intensify health preventive measures within the context of healthy lifestyle to avoid the occurrence of non-communicable diseases.

Knowledge and Practice Regarding Over the Counter Medicines among Adults

Self-medication can be defined as obtaining and consuming one (or more) drug(s) without the advice of a physician either for diagnosis, prescription or surveillance of treatment. The use of over the counter medicines are increasing day by day. Low cost and easy availability make these medicines to reach the hands of community quickly. The present study was intended to assess the knowledge and practices regarding over the counter medicines among adults and determine the association between knowledge and socio demographic variables. Across sectional survey was adopted and 100 adults were selected randomly from a rural ward in Thiruvananthapuram district. The result revealed that 39% of the adults had good knowledge, 43% had average knowledge and only 18% had poor knowledge. A statistically significant association was found between knowledge regarding Over the Counter (OTC) medicines with age (p=0.034) and monthly family income (p=0.002). The practice regarding OTC medicines revealed that majority (92%) of the adults were using OTC medications for various conditions like fever, pain, respiratory and gastric problems and 31% of the adults were taking more than one medicines without prescription and 85% of the subjects took medicines shown in advertisement without consulting a doctor and 90% of the subjects checked expiry date while purchasing medicines from the shop and 92% of the subjects discarded the medicines after the date of expiry. It can be concluded that knowledge regarding the use of OTC medicine was less among adults and public awareness through mass media can help to reduce the use of OTC medicines among people.

Preference Lecturers And Staffs In Conducting Self Medication

Self-medication is one of the medication method in which it can cure the disease of a person in the absence of the need to expend much money and effort as well to visit a practitioner. Self-medication is literally a treatment that is performed by a person him/herself. An individual can actually purchase an Over The Counter medicine to treat their own disease. If it is done properly, self-medication can bring a huge advantage to the individual him/herself as they need, a medication state in which a person uses more than two medicines all at once. The focus of this research is to comprehend the behaviour of self-medication among the lecturers and staffs that are located in Suryakancana University. In order to conceive the behaviour of the respondents, a direct interview method is used by interviewing some of them. The interview result indicates that 96% respondens have performed self-medication at least once. In addition, there are several respondents admit that they have also performed polypharmacy. This also shows that the awareness regarding the correct type of medicine and the understanding of the indication written on the medicine is still relatively low among the lecturers and staffs

A Review of Guidelines/Guidance from Various Countries Around the World for the Prevention and Management of Travellers' Diarrhoea: A Pharmacist's Perspective.

International travel is growing and pharmacists are well placed to provide travel health services for the prevention and management of travellers’ diarrhoea (TD). Legislation changes in many countries has enabled pharmacists to access prescription only medicines and vaccinations to provide advice and over the counter medicines for the prevention and management for travel health services; this makes sense since pharmacies are easily accessible to the public and are the patient’s first port of call in the event of any illness. Currently, whilst many guidelines/guidance exist worldwide for the prevention and management of TD, there is no review that focuses on similarities and differences between these and between guidelines on TD and travel related and non-travel related acute diarrhoea. There is also a lack of publication on legislation and the need for evidence based training for all prescribers to provide travel health services. The aims of this work were to review guidelines/guidance for the prevention and management of TD from across the world which were compared with each other as were the TD guidelines compared to that for travel related and non-travel related acute diarrhoea for similarities and differences, with a focus on any relevant pharmacy legislation, needs assessments and training that may impact upon provision of travel health services by pharmacists focusing mainly on TD in adults. The PubMed, Google Scholar and Cochrane database were used to carry out an online search for publications on TD, acute diarrhoea and the guidance pharmacists have in the prevention and management of diarrhoea. The literature reviewed in this article indicates that where no specific guidelines/guidance existed, some pharmacists used the WHO guidelines (WHO), highlighting a need for local, regional and national evidence based guidelines in these countries.

Drug use among agriculture-related workers in Thailand

Objectives: To examine drug use prevalence and to explore the associations of cluster environment characteristics with drug use among agriculture-related workers in Thailand. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study involving 2936 agriculture-related workers from 10 clusters in 4 regions throughout Thailand. Trained interviewers conducted semi-structured interviews. Additionally, the drug-use patterns and behaviors of 124 current users were structurally observed. A multilevel binary logistic regression model was used to estimate the effects of the cluster environment on drug use. Results: The annual prevalence was 58.73%. Illicit drugs, non-prescription drugs, or over the counter medicines were widely used. Age, sex, and non-prescription behavior were associated with substance use that was statistically significant. Contextual clustering was found to significantly affect drug use among agriculture-related workers. A 1-unit increase in treatment rate predicted 12.7-times higher illicit drug use and 15.3-times higher methamphetamine use. Conclusions: Agricultural work facilitated the spread of drug use The design of the surveillance system should be considered.

Perceptions of medicine use among pregnant women: an interview-based study.

Background When women are in a condition that requires medicines during pregnancy they have to balance the health benefits of the medical treatment against the potential risk of harming their unborn child. Too high teratogenic risk perceptions among pregnant women can lead them to stop taking the medicine, worsening the symptoms for the mother and even harming their foetus. Many women today who use over-the-counter and prescribed medicines have been shown to change their medical behaviour when they become pregnant. Objective To explore in depth the perceptions of medication use among women during their pregnancy. Setting TheCapital Region of Denmark. Methods Participants were recruited from social network groups on Facebook and from participants in lectures and antenatal classes for pregnant women in two hospitals. Two focus groups interviews and three individual semi-structured interviews were conducted. The interview guides were based on existing literature and relatively unstructured, with an emphasis on open-ended questions. Interview transcripts were analysed using the phenomenological approach of meaning condensation. Main Outcome measure Pregnant women's' perceptions of medicine including aspects related to their safety feeling of medicines and perceived support from health care professionals. Results The women believed that it is less safe to take medicines during pregnancy, largely due to the risk of the child getting a disease in the future, but also due to the risk of malformation. Lack of clinical tests and uncertainty about how the unborn child reacts to medications were reported causes of these concerns. Most participants were concerned about using medicines and avoided them if possible, including over-the counter medicines. Conversations with physicians had a calming effect although the physicians appeared to be unclear in their guidance regarding dietary supplements. Some women received conflicting information on the Internet. Several suggestions were made about how to reduce uncertainties about the safety of taking medicines during pregnancy. Conclusion Many pregnant women are concerned about how to use medicines. To reduce these concerns and ensure the appropriate use of medicines during pregnancy, initiatives are needed to strengthen evidence-based advice from health care professionals, especially during the first trimester.

Consumer Demographics and Self-Medication: A Cross-Sectional Study of Karachi City in Pakistan

The purpose of this study is to find the statistical relationship between self-medication and demographic characteristics. A cross-sectional study was conducted in the local settings of Karachi. A total of 210 individuals participated in the study. The data was collected through self-administered questionnaire. SPSS.20 was used for data analysis. This software help in data management from above mentioned sources, and statistical analysis of the data. Chi-square and Phi and Cramer’s V test was used to measure attitude of consumer towards self medications. The study shows that 82% of the surveyed people practice self-medication, mostly for minor illnesses. The common reasons for self-medication as stated by the respondents are prior experience, convenience, and recommendation. The majority of the respondent regarded self-medication as an acceptable practice and a short-term cure to the illness. Finally, there is no statistical relationship between self-medication and demographic characteristics of the population. The sample size that has been taken is small. Thus it is possible that the results do not give the exact image of the population. Moreover, responses of the participants could be inaccurate, as participants may not have been able to correctly recall past events. Key Words: Self-medication, Over the Counter medicines (OTC), Minor illness, Prior experience, Convenience. DOI : 10.7176/EJBM/11-14-04 Publication date :May 31 st 2019

Is ward round participation by clinical pharmacists a valuable use of time and money? A time and motion study

Dispensing antibiotics without a prescription, although forbidden by Sri Lankan law since 1986, is a common practice throughout the country. This study attempted to quantify this practice for the first time.To evaluate the response of community pharmacy staff to an antibiotic product request without a prescription and to explore possible factors influencing such practice.A cross-sectional simulated client study was conducted from Jan to Sept 2017. A total of 242 community pharmacies were visited by trained simulated clients (SCs) and they requested for one of four antibiotics (erythromycin tablets, amoxicillin syrup, metronidazole tablets, or ciprofloxacin tablets) without a prescription. Data on the interaction between the pharmacy staff and SC was recorded using a data collection sheet immediately after each visit.Nearly 50% of pharmacies had a pharmacist on duty during the visit. Attending pharmacy staff asked for a prescription for the requested antibiotic in 47% of the instances. Only 16 (7%) pharmacy staff recommended the SC to see a doctor. Overall, 61% of pharmacies dispensed antibiotics without a prescription. The highest dispensed antibiotic was ciprofloxacin (44/63 requests; 70%) and the least was amoxicillin (32/62; 52%). Patient history was obtained in only a few instances and none of the pharmacies dispensed alternative over the counter medicines. The availability of a pharmacist reduced the risk of dispensing an antibiotic without a prescription (Adj. OR = 0.54, 95% CI: 0.30–0.95; P = 0.033), however, it did not have any impact on patient history taking.Dispensing antibiotics without a prescription is a common practice in Sri Lankan community pharmacies. In most instances, pharmacy staff neither inquired about patient history nor requested the patient to obtain the advice of a doctor. Presence of a pharmacist may reduce dispensing antibiotics without prescription, but may not have an effect on interactions with clients requesting antibiotics.