In the UK pharmacy is often promoted as the first port of call for minor ai
lments and the pharmacist's armamentarium of products is increasing as furt
her products are reclassified from prescription only control. Non-prescript
ion medicines in the UK can be advertised directly to the public but the ad
vertisements must comply with the law. Some medicines, namely pharmacy can
only be sold from pharmacies by, or under, the supervision of a pharmacist.
This report describes the major findings of a postal survey of community p
harmacists on the subject of advertising of pharmacy medicines and put them
into context by outlining the legal and quasi-legal requirements. Further
other studies concerning the advertising of non-prescription medicines are
discussed in the context of requests for, and sales of, medicines available
without a prescription.