Prescription drugs are medicines that require a medical prescription for patients to obtain them from pharmacies. Prescription drugs are dynamically opposite to over-the-counter drugs, in the sense that the latter can be obtained without a medical prescription. Prescription drugs are usually accompanied by a short brochure outlining further information about the drug, its usage, possible side-effects and expiration date. Prescription drug sales have witnessed tremendous growth in India in recent years, given the rising income levels and increase in lifestyle-related diseases among a large section of the population. The Indian government has, however, banned any advertising of prescription drugs within the country. Pharmaceutical companies depend mainly on their sales forces to persuade doctors to prescribe such drugs. However, this sometimes results in doctors prescribing medicines based on biased information received from pharma sales staff. Moreover, a lot of prescription drugs are also easily available over the counter in India, which further adds to the problem. Hide this