Prescription drugs are medicines which cannot be administered or sold to a patient without being prescribed by a medical practitioner. They are specifically called prescription drugs to distinguish them from over the counter pills which do not require a prescription. Buying and selling of prescription drugs are very strictly monitored in countries like the United States and the United Kingdom. Only doctors holding a valid degree can prescribe these drugs. Nurses, medical attendants, psychologists, emergency medical technicians and midwives do not possess the authority to give prescription drugs.

The avid safety and precautions for administering prescription drugs stems from the fact that many patients become addicted to these and often keep taking them even after the doctor has asked them to stop. The United States has at least 20% people taking prescribed drugs without the need to do so. Addiction to such medicines may lead to overdose which can eventually prove to be fatal for the recipient. Hollywood actors Heath Ledger and Brittany Murphy are amongst the many victims who have fallen prey to overdose and death by abuse of prescription drugs. Mostly overdose of prescription drugs leads to a cardiac arrest and sudden death.

Many prescription drugs are initially administered by doctors for cold, cough and throat infection. Patients often avoid going to the doctor before using the medicines earlier prescribed again. Instead they decide to abuse their body with prescription drugs. Prescription drug abuse is rising amongst teenagers. Doctors often prescribe teenagers with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) medicines. ADHD medicines are such that they result in loss of body weight. Hence teenagers often fake ADHD to use this drug as a means of shedding weight. Using prescription drugs for anything other than the purpose for which they were recommended in the first place is not only harmful to your body but also a serious and gruesome crime. It is as illegal as using street drugs like heroine and cocaine. Such drugs are much easier to obtain than street drugs and serve pretty much the same purpose many a times (i.e. to become high). A relative or a friend may have a prescription for a sedative or painkiller sometimes.

Mostly the packaging of these medicines is done in such a way that it contains the specific constituents of the drug, the expiry date, the side effects and the allergies which may be caused due to the intake of these.