title: Results of a national survey on over-the-counter medicines, Part 1: Pharmacist opinion on current scheduling status.
abstract: >
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  OTC medicines make up an important part of the community pharmacy world. As with most aspects of practice, however, hurdles exist that prevent an optimal level of care.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To gauge pharmacist agreement on the scheduling status of various OTC medicines.
  
  
  METHODS
  Pharmacists across Canada were surveyed by mail.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the 5037 surveys mailed, 2403 were returned, with 2305 being usable for analysis (response rate of 49.4%). Across 25 agents, pharmacists tended to support existing control for pharmacies (such as Nix crème rinse and minoxidil topical solution) and returning control to pharmacies for unscheduled agents (such as ranitidine 75 mg tablets and nicotine patches).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Pharmacists generally favour tighter control of OTC agents, especially those that are unscheduled. This hopefully reflects pharmacist desire to ensure their proper selection and use.
authors.forename: Jeff
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Taylor
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Landry
authors.forename: Lyne
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Lalonde
authors.forename: Ross T
authors.initials: RT
authors.lastname: Tsuyuki