{{Short description|Health-care communication from a physician to a pharmacist}} {{Redirect2|Doctor's orders|℞|other uses|Doctor's orders (disambiguation)|and|Rx (disambiguation)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=May 2023}} {{multiple issues| {{More citations needed|date=January 2010}} {{Globalize|article|USA|UK|2name=the United States|3name=the United Kingdom|date=May 2020}} }}
{{not a typo|[[File:Printed ℞.jpg|thumb|upright|The internationally recognized prescription symbol, ℞ (U+211E), as printed on the blister pack of a prescription drug]]}} [[File:Kassenrezept Muster 2008.svg|thumb|Example medical prescription from North Rhine-Westphalia]]
A '''prescription''' in the medical context, often abbreviated '''{{not a typo|℞}}''' or '''Rx''', is a formal communication from physicians or other registered healthcare professionals to a pharmacist, authorizing them to dispense a specific prescription drug for a specific patient. Historically, it was a physician's instruction to an apothecary listing the materials to be compounded into a treatment{{mdash}}the symbol {{not a typo|℞}} (a capital letter R, crossed to indicate abbreviation) comes from the first word of a medieval prescription, Latin {{lang|la|{{linktext|recipe}}}} ({{literal|take thou}}), that gave the list of the materials to be compounded. Requirements for content, who may prescribe, and how prescriptions are transmitted vary by country; many jurisdictions use electronic prescribing systems.
==Definition and symbol== {{anchor|Symbol}} {{infobox symbol |sign = {{not a typo|℞}} |unicode = {{unichar|211E|PRESCRIPTION TAKE|html=}} |see also = {{Unichar|2695|STAFF OF AESCULAPIUS|nlink=Rod of Asclepius}} |different from = {{Unichar|0052|R|nlink=R}} }} In law, a ''prescription'' in the medical context is a written or electronic order for a medicinal product or medical device issued by a health professional—such as a physician, physician assistant, dentist, or veterinarian—who is legally entitled to prescribe within the jurisdiction where it is issued.<ref>{{cite web |title=Directive 2011/24/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 9 March 2011 on the application of patients' rights in cross-border healthcare (consolidated text) |url=https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:02011L0024-20250112 |website=EUR-Lex |publisher=Publications Office of the European Union |type=Consolidated version |date=12 January 2025 |orig-date=9 March 2011 |language=EN |series=CELEX |id=02011L0024-20250112 |access-date=3 October 2025 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=REGULATION 7—DRUG PRODUCTS/PRESCRIPTIONS |url=https://www.sos.arkansas.gov/uploads/rulesRegs/Arkansas%20Register/2014/dec2014/070.00.14-006.pdf |website=Arkansas Register Archives |publisher=Arkansas Secretary of State |date=December 2014 |access-date=4 October 2025|last=<!-- no byline -->}}</ref> In pharmacy usage, the term ''prescription'' generally refers to instructions for medicines that patients obtain from a pharmacy or doctor's office and take themselves outside the hospital. This contrasts with medication orders, which are recorded in hospital or institutional charts to guide nurses and other staff in administering medicines directly to inpatients.<ref>{{cite book |last=Lacher |first=Barbara E. |title=Pharmacy Technician Certification Review and Practice Exam |edition=4th |publisher=American Society of Health-System Pharmacists |location=Bethesda, MD |year=2019 |isbn=978-1-58528-498-6 |chapter=Processing Medication Orders and Prescriptions |chapter-url=https://publications.ashp.org/previewpdf/display/book/9781585284993/chapter8.xml?pdf |access-date=3 October 2025 }}</ref>{{rp|150}}<ref>{{cite web |title=Prescriptions & Medication Orders |url=https://pharmlabs.unc.edu/labexercises/compounding/rxmedorders/ |website=The Pharmaceutics and Pharmaceutical Compounding Laboratory |publisher=University of North Carolina |access-date=4 October 2025|date=<!-- unspecified -->|last=<!-- no byline -->}}</ref>
Prescriptions may be issued on paper, electronically, or, where it is permitted, verbally (e.g., by telephone). Paper prescriptions normally require the prescriber's handwritten signature and the date of issue. In some jurisdictions, a digital signature may be accepted, while prescriptions for controlled drugs often carry additional legal requirements, such as a handwritten signature, specified wording, or security features.<ref>{{cite web |title=Medicines Management — Legal Aspects of Prescription Writing |url=https://london.hee.nhs.uk/medicines-management-legal-aspects-prescription-writing |website=London Health Education England |publisher=Health Education England |access-date=3 October 2025 |date=<!-- unspecified -->|last=<!-- no byline -->}}</ref> Electronic prescriptions are accepted in many jurisdictions, and verbal prescriptions, when accepted, are subject to restrictions and read-back procedures to reduce error. The content of a prescription includes the name and address of the prescribing provider and any other legal requirements, such as a registration number (e.g., a DEA number in the United States). Unique to each prescription is the name of the patient. In the United Kingdom and Ireland, the patient's name and address must also be recorded. Each prescription is dated, and some jurisdictions may place a time limit on the prescription.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://apps.who.int/medicinedocs/en/d/Jwhozip23e/5.4.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100709184535/http://apps.who.int/medicinedocs/en/d/Jwhozip23e/5.4.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=July 9, 2010|title=Guide to Good Prescribing - A Practical Manual: Part 3: Treating your patients: Chapter 9. STEP 4: Write a prescription|website=apps.who.int|access-date=26 March 2018}}</ref> Due to the addictive properties of certain drugs, incidents where security hackers have compromised online prescription accounts<ref>{{cite web | title=Scammers hacked doctors' prescription accounts to get bonanza of illegal pills, prosecutors say | website=Associated Press News | date=26 January 2024 | url=https://apnews.com/article/opioids-eprescription-oxycodone-promethazine-codeine-new-york-9d990ded7b416684106039936415f7e9 }}</ref> and employees have forged paper scripts to be sold on the black market have occurred.<ref>{{cite web | title=PD: Nurse stole doctor's prescription pads and wrote 102 fraudulent prescriptions | date=11 February 2019 | url=https://www.12news.com/article/news/pd-nurse-stole-doctors-prescription-pads-and-wrote-102-fraudulent-prescriptions/75-51c73e9d-af92-49f8-a275-3d503e66d9be }}</ref> In the past, prescriptions contained instructions for the pharmacist to use for compounding the pharmaceutical product, but most prescriptions now specify pharmaceutical products that were manufactured and require little or no preparation by the pharmacist.{{citation needed|reason=add when this practice become uncommon using at least three reliable sources, at least one from a period that handmade compounds were commonly used, one from in the process of abandoning and one after hand compounding become exceptional|date=June 2020}} Prescriptions also contain directions for the patient to follow when taking the drug. These directions are printed on the label of the pharmaceutical product.
The word ''{{linktext|prescription}}'', from ''{{linktext|pre-}}'' ('before') and ''script'' ('writing, written'), refers to the fact that the prescription is an order that must be written down before a drug can be dispensed. Those within the industry will often call prescriptions simply "scripts". The symbol {{not a typo|"℞"}}, sometimes transliterated as "R<sub>x</sub>" or "Rx", is recorded in 16th century manuscripts as an abbreviation of the late Latin instruction {{lang|la|recipe}}, meaning 'receive'.<ref name=MWRx />{{efn|Second person singular imperative form of {{lang|la|recipere}} meaning "receive" or "take".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://latin.cactus2000.de/showverb.en.php?verb=recipere |title=Latin verbs: ''recipere'' |website=cactus2000.de |access-date=2019-12-19 |archive-date=29 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210429181925/https://latin.cactus2000.de/showverb.en.php?verb=recipere |url-status=live }}</ref> }} Originally abbreviated ''Rc'', the later convention of using a slash to indicate abbreviation resulted in an R with a straight stroke through its right "leg".<ref name=MWRx>{{cite web | url = https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Rx | title = Definition of Rx | work= Merriam Webster | date = 19 December 2019 | quote = a 16th-century symbol, the letter R with a line through its slanted leg-the line signaling that the "R" is functioning as an abbreviation. | access-date = 19 December 2019 | archive-date = 22 April 2021 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210422180745/https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Rx | url-status = live }}</ref>{{efn|Compare with Pound sign#Origin. Transliteration as Rx is ubiquitous but erroneous, it is not an x.}}{{efn|Folk theories about the origin of the symbol "{{not a typo|℞}}" note its similarity to the Eye of Horus,<ref>[http://altreligion.about.com/library/glossary/symbols/bldefseyeofhorus.htm Eye of Horus, Eye of Ra (Udjat, Wedjat)] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071012224215/http://altreligion.about.com/library/glossary/symbols/bldefseyeofhorus.htm |date=October 12, 2007 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://egyptphoto.ncf.ca/Egypt%20a%20Perspective13.htm |title=First recorded incidence of the pharmaceutical sign 'Rx' |publisher=Egyptphoto.ncf.ca |access-date=2012-02-13 |archive-date=3 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201003023438/http://egyptphoto.ncf.ca/Egypt%20a%20Perspective13.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> or to the ancient symbol for Zeus or Jupiter, (♃), gods whose protection may have been sought in medical contexts.<ref>{{cite web | vauthors = Dukoff AB |url = http://www.endomail.com/articles/ad13rx.html |title=Did You Know Where Rx Came From? |publisher=Endomail.com |access-date=2014-01-02 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131003150926/http://www.endomail.com/articles/ad13rx.html |archive-date=2013-10-03 }}</ref> No objective evidence has been produced for these theories.}} Medieval prescriptions invariably began with the instruction from the physician to the apothecary to "take" certain materials and compound them in specified ways.<ref>Oxford English Dictionary, articles on the letter "R" (sense 14b) and the word "recipe."</ref>
==Contents== thumb|upright=1.3|Sample prescription form No. 107 used in Russia (2019)
Every prescription contains who prescribed the prescription, who the prescription is valid for, and what is prescribed. Some jurisdictions, drug types or patient groups require additional information as explained below.
===Drug equivalence and non-substitution=== Many brand name drugs have cheaper generic drug substitutes that are therapeutically and biochemically equivalent. Prescriptions will also contain instructions on whether the prescriber will allow the pharmacist to substitute a generic version of the drug. This instruction is communicated in a number of ways. In some jurisdictions, the preprinted prescription contains two signature lines: one line has "dispense as written" printed underneath; the other line has "substitution permitted" underneath. Some have a preprinted box "dispense as written" for the prescriber to check off (but this is easily checked off by anyone with access to the prescription). In other jurisdictions, the protocol is for the prescriber to handwrite one of the following phrases: "dispense as written", "DAW", "brand necessary", "do not substitute", "no substitution", "medically necessary", "do not interchange".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://professionals.epilepsy.com/page/statutes_by_pharmacists.html |title=State Laws or Statutes Governing Generic Substitution by Pharmacists |publisher=Epilepsy.com/Professionals |date=2007-04-25 |access-date=2014-01-02 |archive-date=2 January 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140102192222/http://professionals.epilepsy.com/page/statutes_by_pharmacists.html |url-status=live }}</ref> In Britain's National Health Service, doctors are reminded that money spent on branded rather than generic drugs is consequently not available for more deserving cases.<ref>{{cite report |url = http://gmmmg.nhs.uk/docs/guidance/Generic-Prescribing-Guidelines-Version-2-0-final.pdf |title = Generic Prescribing Guidelines |author = Medicines Optimisation Team |publisher = Greater Manchester Health and Care Commissioning |date = April 2019 |access-date = 26 May 2020 |archive-date = 3 October 2020 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20201003003542/http://gmmmg.nhs.uk/docs/guidance/Generic-Prescribing-Guidelines-Version-2-0-final.pdf |url-status = dead }}</ref>
===Dose regimen=== The dose regimen is the planned schedule for administering a drug to a patient.<ref>{{cite book |last=Katzung |first=Bertram G. |title=Basic and Clinical Pharmacology |edition=14th |publisher=McGraw-Hill}}</ref> It specifies the amount of drug given, how often it is administered, and the duration of treatment. The aim is to keep drug levels within the therapeutic range while avoiding adverse effects. A dose regimen typically includes: * Dose size * Dosing interval * Duration of therapy * Route of administration
Selection of an appropriate dose regimen is important for achieving therapeutic benefit. Incorrect dosing schedules may lead to treatment failure or drug toxicity, especially for medicines with a narrow therapeutic index.
===Prescriptions for children=== In some jurisdictions, it may be a legal requirement to include the age of child on the prescription.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://bnf.org/bnf/bnf/current/doc/29440.htm |title=Prescribing for children |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030701164330/http://bnf.org/bnf/bnf/current/doc/29440.htm |archive-date=July 1, 2003 |publisher=BNF }}</ref> For pediatric prescriptions some{{who|date=May 2020}} advise the inclusion of the age of the child if the patient is less than twelve and the age and months if less than five. (In general, including the age on the prescription is helpful.) Adding the weight of the child is also helpful.
===Label and instructions=== Prescriptions in the US often have a "label" box.<ref>{{cite web | vauthors = Davis T |url=http://www.sh.lsuhsc.edu/fammed/OutpatientManual/PrescripWriting-PDR.htm |title=Prescription Writing and the PDR |publisher=Comprehensive Care Clinic |date=August 30, 2005 |access-date=2014-01-02 |archive-date=2014-01-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140128074233/http://www.sh.lsuhsc.edu/fammed/outpatientmanual/prescripwriting-pdr.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref> When checked, the pharmacist is instructed to label the medication and provide information about the prescription itself is given in addition to instructions on taking the medication. Otherwise, the patient is simply given the instructions. Some prescribers further inform the patient and pharmacist by providing the indication for the medication; i.e. what is being treated. This assists the pharmacist in checking for errors as many common medications can be used for multiple medical conditions. Some prescriptions will specify whether and how many "repeats" or "refills" are allowed; that is whether the patient may obtain more of the same medication without getting a new prescription from the medical practitioner. Regulations may restrict some types of drugs from being refilled.
==Writing prescriptions== ===Legal capacity to write prescriptions=== National or local (e.g. US state or Canadian provincial) legislation governs who can write a prescription. In the United States, physicians (either M.D., D.O. or D.P.M.<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.doh.wa.gov/LicensesPermitsandCertificates/ProfessionsNewReneworUpdate/PharmacyCommission/WhoCanPrescribeandAdministerPrescriptions#Prescribe | title = Who Can Prescribe and Administer Prescriptions in Washington State | work = Washington State Department of Health | access-date = 3 February 2019 | archive-date = 12 June 2021 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210612083207/https://www.doh.wa.gov/LicensesPermitsandCertificates/ProfessionsNewReneworUpdate/PharmacyCommission/WhoCanPrescribeandAdministerPrescriptions#Prescribe | url-status = live }}</ref>) have the broadest prescriptive authority. All 50 US states and the District of Columbia allow licensed certified Physician Assistants (PAs) prescription authority (with some states, limitations exist to controlled substances). All 50 US states and the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and Guam allow registered certified nurse practitioners and other advanced practice registered nurses (such as certified nurse-midwives) prescription power (with some states including limitations to controlled substances).<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/440315 | title = US Nurse Practitioner Prescribing Law: A State-by-State Summary | date = December 14, 2009 | work = Medscape | access-date = 28 February 2010 | archive-date = 18 September 2017 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170918002716/http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/440315 | url-status = live }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Batey MV, Holland JM | title = Prescribing practices among nurse practitioners in adult and family health | journal =American Journal of Public Health | volume = 75 | issue = 3 | pages = 258–262 | date = March 1985 | pmid = 3976950 | pmc = 1646172 | doi = 10.2105/AJPH.75.3.258 }}</ref> Many other healthcare professions also have prescriptive authority related to their area of practice. Veterinarians and dentists have prescribing power in all 50 US states and the District of Columbia for animals and for human diseases of the mouth, respectively. Clinical pharmacists are allowed to prescribe in some US states through the use of a drug formulary or collaboration agreements. Florida pharmacists can write prescriptions for a limited set of drugs.<ref>{{cite news | url = https://www.nytimes.com/1986/05/02/us/around-the-nation-florida-s-pharmacists-can-write-prescriptions.html | title = Florida's Pharmacists Can Write Prescriptions | newspaper = The New York Times | date = May 2, 1986 | access-date = 2014-01-02 | archive-date = 11 July 2021 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210711215451/https://www.nytimes.com/1986/05/02/us/around-the-nation-florida-s-pharmacists-can-write-prescriptions.html | url-status = live }}</ref> In all US states, optometrists prescribe medications to treat certain eye diseases, and also issue spectacle and contact lens prescriptions for corrective eyewear.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.revoptom.com/archive/FEATURES/RO1100f6uptoknees.htm#optometric|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20011223135701/http://www.revoptom.com/archive/FEATURES/RO1100f6uptoknees.htm#optometric|url-status=dead|archive-date=23 December 2001|title=Features, November 2000|date=23 December 2001|access-date=26 March 2018}}</ref> Several US states have passed RxP legislation, allowing clinical psychologists who are registered as medical psychologists and have also undergone specialized training in script-writing, to prescribe drugs to treat emotional and mental disorders.
In January 2026, the US state of Utah announced it would allow artificial intelligence agents to autonomously, without physician input, to enable prescription renewals.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=<!--see vauthors--> |vauthors=Aaron DG, Robertson C |date=13 April 2026 |title=The First AI Drug Prescriber |url=https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2847569 |journal=JAMA |type=Viewpoint |doi=10.1001/jama.2026.3533 |doi-access=free|url-access=subscription }}</ref>
In August 2013, legislative changes in the UK allowed physiotherapists and podiatrists to have independent prescribing rights for licensed medicines that are used to treat conditions within their own area of expertise and competence. In 2018 this was extended to paramedics.<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://www.pharmaceutical-journal.com/news-and-analysis/news/physiotherapists-and-podiatrists-join-ranks-of-independent-prescribers/11124528.article |title=Physiotherapists and podiatrists join ranks of independent prescribers |journal=The Pharmaceutical Journal |volume=291 |pages=174 |doi=10.1211/PJ.2013.11124528 |date=20 August 2013 |access-date=26 September 2016 |archive-date=23 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201123123602/https://www.pharmaceutical-journal.com/news-and-analysis/news/physiotherapists-and-podiatrists-join-ranks-of-independent-prescribers/11124528.article |url-status=dead |url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title = Independent and supplementary prescribing for paramedics | work = Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) | location = London, UK | url = https://www.hcpc-uk.org/news-and-events/news/2018/independent-and-supplementary-prescribing-for-paramedics/ | access-date = 5 September 2022 | archive-date = 5 September 2022 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20220905192421/https://www.hcpc-uk.org/news-and-events/news/2018/independent-and-supplementary-prescribing-for-paramedics/ | url-status = live }}</ref>
In Australia, registered nurses may prescribe under collaborative arrangements with an authorized prescriber,<ref>{{cite web |title=RNs poised to prescribe in major leap for healthcare access and delivery |url=https://www.ahpra.gov.au/News/2025-05-30-RNs-poised-to-prescribe-in-major-leap-for-healthcare-access-and-delivery.aspx |website=www.ahpra.gov.au |publisher=Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) |date=30 May 2025 |access-date=3 October 2025 }}</ref> while in the United Kingdom, nurses, midwives, and pharmacists may prescribe if they complete an approved course and register their qualification.<ref>{{cite web |title=Non-medical prescribers |url=https://www.rcn.org.uk/Get-Help/RCN-advice/non-medical-prescribers |website=www.rcn.org.uk |date=5 December 2015 |publisher=Royal College of Nursing |access-date=3 October 2025 }}</ref> In other countries, such as Japan and South Korea, prescribing is restricted to physicians, dentists, and veterinarians.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Nakagawa |first1=Sari |last2=Kume |first2=Noriaki |title=Pharmacy Practice in Japan |journal=Canadian Journal of Hospital Pharmacy |date=June 2017 |volume=70 |issue=3 |pages=232–242 |doi=10.4212/cjhp.v70i3.1663 |pmc=5491200 |pmid=28680178 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Medical Service Act (English translation) |url=https://elaw.klri.re.kr/eng_mobile/viewer.do?hseq=64153&key=36&type=part |website=Law Viewer (KLRI) |publisher=Korea Legislation Research Institute |access-date=3 October 2025 }}</ref> In South Korea, both physicians and pharmacists could prescribe and dispense medicines until July 2000.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Kwon |first=Soonman |title=Pharmaceutical reform and physician strikes in Korea: separation of drug prescribing and dispensing |journal=Social Science & Medicine |volume=57 |issue=3 |pages=529–538 |date=2003 |doi=10.1016/s0277-9536(02)00378-7 |pmid=12791494}}</ref>
===Standing orders=== Some jurisdictions<ref>{{Cite web |vauthors=Hobbs J |title=What are Standing Orders and Are They Legal? |url=https://www.heartbeatinternational.org/what-are-standing-orders-and-are-they-legal |access-date=2022-04-26 |website=www.heartbeatinternational.org |language=en-GB |archive-date=9 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210709185051/https://www.heartbeatinternational.org/what-are-standing-orders-and-are-they-legal |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url = https://www1.health.gov.au/internet/publications/publishing.nsf/Content/nmp-guide-medmgt-jul06-contents~nmp-guide-medmgt-jul06-guidepr11 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170813173055/https://www1.health.gov.au/internet/publications/publishing.nsf/Content/nmp-guide-medmgt-jul06-contents~nmp-guide-medmgt-jul06-guidepr11 | archive-date = 13 August 2017 | title = Guiding Principle 11 - Standing orders | work = The Department of Health | publisher =Australian Government }}</ref> allow certain physicians (sometimes a government official like the state Secretary of Health,<ref name=naloxone>{{cite web | url = https://www.health.pa.gov/topics/Documents/Opioids/General%20Public%20Standing%20Order.pdf | title = Naloxone Standing Order DOH-002-2018 | work = Pennsylvania Department of Health | access-date = 7 December 2020 | archive-date = 21 August 2021 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210821111342/https://www.health.pa.gov/topics/Documents/Opioids/General%20Public%20Standing%20Order.pdf | url-status = live }}</ref> sometimes physicians in local clinics or pharmacies<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.mass.gov/doc/emergency-contraception-model-standing-order/download|title=Massachusetts Department of Public Health Emergency Contraception / Model Standing Order|access-date=7 December 2020|archive-date=2 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210402101946/https://www.mass.gov/doc/emergency-contraception-model-standing-order/download|url-status=live}}</ref>) to write "standing orders" that act like a prescription for everyone in the general public. These orders also provide a standard procedure for determining if administration is necessary and details of how it is to be performed safely. These are typically used to authorize certain people to perform preventive, low-risk, or emergency care that would be otherwise logistically cumbersome to authorize for individual patients, including vaccinations,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.immunize.org/catg.d/p3066.pdf|title=Using Standing Orders for Administering Vaccines: What You Should Know|access-date=7 December 2020|archive-date=21 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210321150719/https://www.immunize.org/catg.d/p3066.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> prevention of cavities, birth control, treatment of infectious diseases,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.oregon.gov/osbn/documents/Resource_OCNReport-StandingOrders2019.pdf |author=Oregon Center for Nursing |title=Standing Orders and Protocols:Feedback Analysis and Recommendations |access-date=7 December 2020 |archive-date=9 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210709190824/https://www.oregon.gov/osbn/documents/Resource_OCNReport-StandingOrders2019.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> and reversal of drug overdoses.<ref name="naloxone" />
===Legibility of handwritten prescriptions=== '''Doctors' handwriting''' is a reference to the stereotypically illegible handwriting of some medical practitioners, which sometimes causes errors in dispensing. In the US, illegible handwriting has been indirectly responsible for at least 7,000 deaths annually.<ref name="courtcase">{{Cite web|url=https://www.tdi.texas.gov/appeals/1999cases/991681r.pdf|title=APPEAL NO. 991681 Texas v. Dr. K|access-date=2020-04-16|archive-date=8 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210108050746/https://www.tdi.texas.gov/appeals/1999cases/991681r.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ottawacitizen.com/News/Canada/decoding-doctors-handwriting-can-mean-life-or-death/wcm/ac0f4814-2df3-4f66-83ac-1d1028795d91/|title=Decoding physician's handwriting can mean life or death|website=ottawacitizen.com|date=2012-11-23|access-date=26 April 2020|archive-date=11 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210711124305/https://ottawacitizen.com/News/Canada/decoding-doctors-handwriting-can-mean-life-or-death/wcm/ac0f4814-2df3-4f66-83ac-1d1028795d91/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine|url=http://content.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1578074,00.html|title=Cause of Death: Sloppy Doctors|vauthors=Caplan J|date=2007-01-15|magazine=Time|access-date=2019-05-06|language=en-US|issn=0040-781X|archive-date=6 November 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191106192541/http://content.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1578074,00.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Charatan F | title = Medical errors kill almost 100000 Americans a year | journal =BMJ | volume = 319 | issue = 7224 | pages = 1519 | date = December 1999 | pmid = 10591699 | pmc = 1117251 | doi = 10.1136/bmj.319.7224.1519 }}</ref>
Some jurisdictions have legislatively required prescriptions to be legible—Florida specifies "legibly printed or typed"<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.leg.state.fl.us/Statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0400-0499/0456/Sections/0456.42.html|title=456.42 Written prescriptions for medicinal drugs|work=Florida Statutes|access-date=14 May 2014|archive-date=14 May 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140514235848/http://www.leg.state.fl.us/Statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0400-0499/0456/Sections/0456.42.html|url-status=live}}</ref>—and the Institute for Safe Medication Practices advocated the elimination of handwritten prescriptions altogether.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ismp.org/Newsletters/acutecare/articles/Whitepaper.asp|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171004034155/http://www.ismp.org/Newsletters/acutecare/articles/Whitepaper.asp|archive-date=4 October 2017|title=Eliminate Handwritten Prescriptions Within 3 Years|publisher=Institute for Safe Medication Practices|date=2000}}</ref> There have been numerous devices designed to electronically read the handwriting of doctors, including electronic character recognition,<ref>{{Cite book| vauthors = Dhande PS, Kharat R |title=2017 International Conference on Computing, Communication, Control and Automation (ICCUBEA) |chapter=Character Recognition for Cursive English Handwriting to Recognize Medicine Name from Doctor's Prescription |date=August 2017|pages=1–5|doi=10.1109/ICCUBEA.2017.8463842|isbn=978-1-5386-4008-1|s2cid=52287243}}</ref> keyword spotters,<ref>{{Cite journal| vauthors = Roy PP, Bhunia AK, Das A, Dhar P, Pal U |date=2017-06-15|title=Keyword spotting in doctor's handwriting on medical prescriptions|url=http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0957417417300337|journal=Expert Systems with Applications|language=en|volume=76|pages=113–128|doi=10.1016/j.eswa.2017.01.027|issn=0957-4174|url-access=subscription}}</ref> and "postprocessing approaches",<ref>{{Cite book| vauthors = Chen Q, Gong T, Li L, Tan CL, Pang BC|title=2010 12th International Conference on Frontiers in Handwriting Recognition |chapter=A Medical Knowledge Based Postprocessing Approach for Doctor's Handwriting Recognition |date=November 2010|pages=45–50|doi=10.1109/ICFHR.2010.121|isbn=978-1-4244-8353-2|s2cid=18433195 |url=http://scholarbank.nus.edu.sg/handle/10635/41720 }}</ref> though the gradual shift to electronic health records and electronic prescriptions may alleviate the need for handwritten prescriptions altogether.<ref>{{Cite journal|vauthors=Robaina Bordón JM, Morales Castellano E, López Rodríguez JF, Sosa Henríquez M|date=December 2014|title=La letra de médico|url=http://scielo.isciii.es/scielo.php?script=sci_abstract&pid=S1889-836X2014000400008&lng=es&nrm=iso&tlng=en|journal=Revista de Osteoporosis y Metabolismo Mineral|volume=6|issue=4|pages=122–126|doi=10.4321/S1889-836X2014000400008|issn=1889-836X|doi-access=free}}{{Dead link|date=May 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> In Britain's NHS, remaining paper prescriptions are almost invariably computer printed, and electronic (rather than paper) communication between surgery and pharmacy is increasingly the norm.<ref>{{cite web | url = https://digital.nhs.uk/services/electronic-prescription-service | title = Electronic Prescription Service | publisher = NHS | date = 2 April 2020 | access-date = 26 May 2020 | archive-date = 14 August 2021 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210814002315/https://digital.nhs.uk/services/electronic-prescription-service | url-status = live }}</ref>
===Conventions for avoiding ambiguity=== Over the years, prescribers have developed many conventions for prescription-writing, with the goal of avoiding ambiguities or misinterpretation.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://bnf.org/bnf/bnf/current/doc/29420.htm |title=Prescription writing |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030816162340/http://bnf.org/bnf/bnf/current/doc/29420.htm |archive-date=August 16, 2003 |publisher=BNF }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.healthlibrary.com/reading/rdb/april98/good.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000709193518/http://www.healthlibrary.com/reading/rdb/april98/good.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=9 July 2000|title=Good prescription practice|date=9 July 2000|access-date=26 March 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Teichman PG, Caffee AE | title = Prescription writing to maximize patient safety | journal = Family Practice Management | volume = 9 | issue = 7 | pages = 27–30 | year = 2002 | pmid = 12221761 | url = http://www.aafp.org/fpm/2002/0700/p27.pdf | access-date = 2010-01-22 | archive-date = 9 July 2020 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200709082238/https://www.aafp.org/fpm/2002/0700/p27.pdf | url-status = live }}</ref> These include: *Careful use of decimal points to avoid ambiguity: **Avoiding unnecessary decimal points and trailing zeros, e.g. 5 mL rather than 5.0 mL, 0.5 rather than .50 or 0.50, to avoid possible misinterpretation as 50. **Always using leading zeros on decimal numbers less than 1: e.g. 0.5 rather than .5 to avoid misinterpretation as 5. *Directions written out in full in English (although some common Latin abbreviations are listed below). *Quantities given directly or implied by the frequency and duration of the directions. *Where the directions are "as needed", the quantity should always be specified. *Where possible, usage directions should specify times (7 am, 3 pm, 11 pm) rather than simply frequency (three times a day) and especially relationship to meals for orally consumed medication. *The use of permanent ink is encouraged. *Avoiding units such as "teaspoons" or "tablespoons". *Writing out numbers as words ''and'' numerals ("dispense #30 (thirty)") as in a bank draft or cheque. *The use of the apothecaries' system or avoirdupois units and symbols of measure – pints ('''O'''), ounces ('''℥'''), drams ('''ℨ'''), scruples ('''℈'''), grains ('''gr'''), and minims ('''♏︎''') – is discouraged given the potential for confusion. For example, the abbreviation for a grain ("gr") can be confused with the gram, abbreviated g, and the symbol for minims (♏︎), which looks almost identical to an "m", can be confused with micrograms or metres. Also, the symbols for ounce (℥) and dram (ℨ) can easily be confused with the numeral "3" and the Latin letter ezh, "Ʒ" and the symbol for pint (O) can be easily read as a "0". Given the potential for errors, metric equivalents should always be used. *The degree symbol (°), which is commonly used as an abbreviation for hours (e.g., "q 2-4°" for every 2–4 hours), should not be used, since it can be confused with a "0" (zero). Further, the use of the degree symbol for primary, secondary, and tertiary (1°, 2°, and 3°) is discouraged, since the former could be confused with quantities (i.e. 10, 20 and 30, respectively). * Micrograms are abbreviated "mcg" rather than "μg" (which, if handwritten, could easily be mistaken for "mg" (milligrams). Even so, pharmacists must be on the alert for inadvertent over- or under-prescribing through a momentary lapse of concentration.
===Abbreviations=== {{Main|List of abbreviations used in medical prescriptions}}
Many abbreviations are derived from Latin phrases. Hospital pharmacies have more abbreviations, some specific to the hospital. Different jurisdictions follow different conventions on what is abbreviated or not. Prescriptions that do not follow area conventions may be flagged as possible forgeries.
Some abbreviations that are ambiguous, or that in their written form might be confused with something else, are not recommended and should be avoided. These are flagged in the table in the main article. However, all abbreviations carry an increased risk for confusion and misinterpretation and should be used cautiously.
==Non-prescription drug prescriptions== Over-the-counter medications and non-controlled medical supplies such as dressings, which do not require a prescription, may also be prescribed. Depending upon a jurisdiction's medical system, non-prescription drugs may be prescribed because drug benefit plans may reimburse the patient only if the over-the-counter medication is taken at the direction of a qualified medical practitioner. In the countries of the UK, National Health Service (NHS) prescriptions are either free or have a fixed price per item;<ref>{{Cite web |title=NHS Prescriptions Charges - A Guide 2021-2022 |website=Focus on Disability |date=April 2021 |access-date=16 April 2021 |url=https://focusondisability.co.uk/health-costs-care-costs-and-money-issues/nhs-prescriptions-charges-guide/ |quote=Prescription charges for English residents will be £9.35 per item ... Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland have abolished prescription charges. |archive-date=4 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210704190209/https://focusondisability.co.uk/health-costs-care-costs-and-money-issues/nhs-prescriptions-charges-guide/ |url-status=live }}</ref> a prescription may be issued so the patient does not have to purchase the item at commercial price.
Some medical software requires a prescription.<ref>{{cite web|vauthors=Ferdman RA|title=The world's first prescription-only smartphone app|url=http://qz.com/163792/the-worlds-first-prescription-only-smartphone-app/|work=Quartz (publication)|date=6 January 2014|publisher=Atlantic Media|access-date=6 January 2014|archive-date=11 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210711170005/https://qz.com/163792/the-worlds-first-prescription-only-smartphone-app/|url-status=live}}</ref>
Legislation may define certain equipment as "prescription devices".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfcfr/CFRSearch.cfm?FR=801.109 |title=CFR – Code of Federal Regulations Title 21 |publisher=U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) |date=2009-04-01 |access-date=2014-01-02 |archive-date=11 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210711232631/https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfcfr/CFRSearch.cfm?FR=801.109 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Such prescription devices can only be used under the supervision of authorized personnel and such authorization is typically documented using a prescription. Examples of prescription devices include dental cement (for affixing braces to tooth surfaces), various prostheses, gut sutures, sickle cell tests, cervical cap and ultrasound monitor.{{Citation needed|date=September 2017}}
In some jurisdictions, hypodermic syringes are in a special class of their own, regulated as illicit drug use accessories<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs3.asp?ActID=1954&ChapAct=720%26nbsp%3BILCS%26nbsp%3B635%2F&ChapterID=53&ChapterName=CRIMINAL+OFFENSES&ActName=Hypodermic+Syringes+and+Needles+Act%2E | title = (720 ILCS 635/) Hypodermic Syringes and Needles Act | work = Illinois Compiled Statutes | access-date = 28 February 2010 | archive-date = 22 November 2020 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20201122222928/https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs3.asp?ActID=1954&ChapAct=720%26nbsp%3BILCS%26nbsp%3B635%2F&ChapterID=53&ChapterName=CRIMINAL+OFFENSES&ActName=Hypodermic+Syringes+and+Needles+Act%2E | url-status = live }}</ref> separate from regular medical legislation. Such legislation often allows syringes to be dispensed only with a prescription.{{Citation needed|date=September 2017}}
Prescriptions for healthy foods, such as fruits and vegetables, have been proposed as a simple and cost-effective way to improve a patient's health.<ref>{{cite web | title=Prescribing healthy foods could bring cost-effective benefits | website=National Institutes of Health (NIH) | date=13 February 2026 | url=https://www.nih.gov/news-events/nih-research-matters/prescribing-healthy-foods-could-bring-cost-effective-benefits | access-date=1 March 2026}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | last=Savchuk | first=Katia | title=A prescription for produce improves health, new research finds | website=Stanford Medicine News Center | date=17 June 2025 | url=https://med.stanford.edu/news/insights/2025/03/food-as-medicine-produce-education-chronic-disease.html | access-date=1 March 2026}}</ref>
==History==<!-- This section is linked from Hippocratic Oath --> The idea of prescriptions dates back to the beginning of history. So long as there were medications and a writing system to capture directions for preparation and usage, there were prescriptions. The oldest known medical prescription text was found at Ebla, in modern Syria, and dates back to around 2500 BCE.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pharmacy.wsu.edu/History/history02.html |title=Pharmacy in Ancient Babylonia |work=History of Pharmacy |publisher=Washington State University College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences|access-date=2010-01-22 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090818003836/http://www.pharmacy.wsu.edu/history/history02.html |archive-date=August 18, 2009 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Radner |first1=Karen |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Nvgz3NOuo5EC |title=The Oxford Handbook of Cuneiform Culture |last2=Robson |first2=Eleanor |date=2011-09-22 |publisher=OUP Oxford |isbn=978-0-19-955730-1 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |last=Sibbing-Plantholt |first=Irene |title=Rethinking the Term "asû" |date=2021-03-21 |url=https://brill.com/display/book/9789004512412/BP000006.xml |work=The Image of Mesopotamian Divine Healers |pages=208–245 |access-date=2023-12-14 |publisher=Brill |language=en |isbn=978-90-04-51241-2}}</ref>
Modern prescriptions are actually ''extemporaneous prescriptions'' (from the Latin {{Lang|la|{{linktext|ex tempore}}}}, 'at/from the time'),<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/extemporaneous |title=Extemporaneous definition |publisher=M-W.com |date=2007-04-25 |access-date=2014-01-02 |archive-date=6 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210506201953/https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/extemporaneous |url-status=live }}</ref> meaning that the prescription is written on the spot for a specific patient with a specific ailment. This is distinguished from a non-extemporaneous prescription that is a generic recipe for a general ailment. Modern prescriptions evolved with the separation of the role of the pharmacists from that of the physician.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=A6lWNwuO-f0C&q=on+the+historical+origin+of+the+pharmacist&pg=PA78|title=Making Medicines: A Brief History of Pharmacy and Pharmaceuticals| vauthors = Anderson S |date=26 March 2018|publisher=Pharmaceutical Press|isbn=9780853695974|access-date=26 March 2018|via=Google Books}}</ref> Today the term ''extemporaneous prescriptions'' is reserved for ''compound prescriptions'' that requires the pharmacist to mix or ''compound'' the medication in the pharmacy for the specific needs of the patient.{{Citation needed|date=September 2017}}
Predating modern legal definitions of a prescription, a prescription traditionally is composed of four parts: a ''superscription'', ''inscription'', ''subscription'', and ''signature''.<ref>{{cite book | title = A Compend of Materia Medica, Therapeutics, and Prescription Writing | vauthors = Potter SO | chapter = Prescription Writing | chapter-url = http://www.henriettesherbal.com/eclectic/potter-comp/prescription.html | year = 1902 | publisher = P. Blakiston's & Son | edition = Sixth | access-date = 13 December 2005 | archive-date = 7 October 2008 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20081007183126/http://www.henriettesherbal.com/eclectic/potter-comp/prescription.html | url-status = live }}</ref>
The ''superscription'' section contains the date of the prescription and patient information (name, address, age, etc.). The symbol "{{not a typo|℞}}" separates the superscription from the inscriptions sections. In this arrangement of the prescription, the "{{not a typo|℞}}" is a symbol for ''recipe'' or literally the imperative "take!" This is an exhortation to the pharmacist by the medical practitioner, "I want the patient to have the following medication"<ref>{{cite book | chapter = Pharmacy and Toxicology | title = Hospital Corpsman | publisher =Naval Education and Training Professional Development and Technology Center | date = August 2000 | chapter-url = http://www.vnh.org/HospitalCorpsman14295/14295_ch6.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040602083443/http://www.vnh.org/HospitalCorpsman14295/14295_ch6.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=2 June 2004 <!-- DUPLICATE |date=2 June 2004--> |access-date=26 March 2018}}</ref> – in other words, "take the following components and compound this medication for the patient".
The ''inscription'' section defines what is the medication. The inscription section is further composed of one or more of:<ref>{{Cite EB1911|wstitle= Therapeutics |volume= 26 | vauthors = Brunton TL |author-link= Thomas Lauder Brunton | pages = 793–803 }}</ref> * a ''basis'' or chief ingredient intended to cure (''curare'') * an ''adjuvant'' to assist its action and make it cure quickly (''cito'') * a ''corrective'' to prevent or lessen any undesirable effect (''tuto'') * a ''vehicle'' or ''excipient'' to make it suitable for administration and pleasant to the patient (''jucunde'')
The ''subscription'' section contains dispensing directions to the pharmacist. This may be compounding instructions or quantities.
The ''signature'' section contains directions to the patient<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/signature |title=Signature definition |publisher=M-w.com |date=2007-04-25 |access-date=2014-01-02 |archive-date=11 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210711020606/https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/signature |url-status=live }}</ref> and is often abbreviated "Sig."<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.bartleby.com/61/96/S0399600.html | title = Signature | work =American Heritage Dictionary | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20030826005049/http://www.bartleby.com/61/96/S0399600.html | archive-date = 26 August 2003 |date=August 26, 2003 }}</ref> or "Signa."<ref>{{cite book | vauthors = Ansel H | title = Pharmaceutical Calculations | edition = 13th | location = Philadelphia | publisher =Lippincott Williams & Wilkins | date = 2010 | pages = 59–60 }}</ref> It also obviously contains the signature of the prescribing medical practitioner though the word ''signature'' has two distinct meanings here and the abbreviations are sometimes used to avoid confusion.
Thus sample prescriptions in modern textbooks are often presented as: '''Rx:''' medication '''Disp.:''' dispensing instructions '''Sig.:''' patient instructions
==Use of technology== {{further|Electronic prescribing|electronic health record}} As a prescription is nothing more than information among a prescriber, pharmacist and patient, information technology can be applied to it. Existing information technology is adequate to print out prescriptions. Hospital information systems in some hospitals do away with prescriptions within the hospital. There are proposals to securely transmit the prescription from the prescriber to the pharmacist using smartcard or the internet.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.computer.org/csdl/proceedings/hicss/2002/1435/06/14350156b-abs.html |title = IEEE Computer Society Conference Publishing Services |access-date = 1 January 2014 |archive-date = 16 December 2018 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20181216031647/https://www.computer.org/csdl/proceedings/hicss/2002/1435/06/14350156b-abs.html |url-status = live }}</ref> In the UK a project called the Electronic Transfer of Prescriptions (ETP) within the National Programme for IT (NPfIT) is currently{{when|date=August 2019}} piloting such a scheme between prescribers and pharmacies.
Within computerized pharmacies, the information on paper prescriptions is recorded into a database. Afterwards, the paper prescription is archived for storage and legal reasons.
A pharmacy chain is often linked together through corporate headquarters with computer networking. A person who has a prescription filled at one branch can get a refill of that prescription at any other store in the chain, as well as have their information available for new prescriptions at any branch.
Some online pharmacies also offer services to customers over the internet, allowing users to specify the store that they will pick up the medicine from.
Many pharmacies now offer services to ship prescription refills right to the patient's home. They also offer mail service where you can mail in a new, original prescription and a signed document, and they will ship the filled prescription back to you.
Pharmacy information systems are a potential source of valuable information for pharmaceutical companies as it contains information about the prescriber's prescribing habits. Prescription data mining of such data is a developing, specialized field.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Zoutman DE, Ford BD, Bassili AR | title = A call for the regulation of prescription data mining | journal = CMAJ | volume = 163 | issue = 9 | pages = 1146–1148 | date = October 2000 | pmid = 11079059 | pmc = 80247 }}</ref>
Many prescribers lack the digitized information systems that reduce prescribing errors.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Zwarenstein MF, Dainty KN, Quan S, Kiss A, Adhikari NK | title = A cluster randomized trial evaluating electronic prescribing in an ambulatory care setting | journal = Trials | volume = 8 | article-number = 28 | date = October 2007 | pmid = 17915028 | pmc = 2092426 | doi = 10.1186/1745-6215-8-28 | doi-access = free }}</ref> To reduce these errors, some investigators have developed modified prescription forms that prompt the prescriber to provide all the desired elements of a good prescription. The modified forms also contain predefined choices such as common quantities, units and frequencies that the prescriber may circle rather than write out. Such forms are thought to reduce errors, especially omission and handwriting errors and are actively under evaluation.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Kennedy AG, Littenberg B | title = A modified outpatient prescription form to reduce prescription errors | journal =Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Safety | volume = 30 | issue = 9 | pages = 480–487 | date = September 2004 | pmid = 15469125 | doi = 10.1016/S1549-3741(04)30056-0 }}</ref>
== See also == {{not a typo|{{Wiktionary|prescription|Rx|℞}}}} {{div col}} * {{annotated link|Eyeglass prescription}} * {{annotated link|Inverse benefit law}} * Medicines reconciliation * {{annotated link|Off-label use}} * Prescription analytics * {{annotated link|Prescription charges}} * Private prescription * Referral * {{annotated link|Special prescription form}} {{div col end}}
== Notes == {{notelist}}
== References == {{Reflist}}
== Further reading == {{refbegin}} * {{cite book | vauthors = Bennett RR |year=1906 |title=Medical and Pharmaceutical Latin for Students of Pharmacy and Medicine |publisher=J. & A. Churchill|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=Xy7gAAAAMAAJ }} {{refend}}
{{Medicine}} {{Authority control}}
Category:Therapy Category:Prescription of drugs Prescription Category:Patient safety Category:Symbols Category:Health informatics