The following list includes six major categories of OTC medications. It also lists side-effects of some medications. In the past, people would say that legal drugs were good, illegal drugs were bad, and prescription drugs were helpful. However, we know that penicillin, a lifesaving drug, has also been responsible for more than 200,000 deaths due to allergic reactions. Drugs may be helpful or harmful, depending on how they are used.
People often take aspirin for a headache.
For example, aspirin causes the stomach lining to bleed just a little bit of blood. A person with arthritis who is taking twenty aspirin a day has to be careful about anemia and ulcers. This is the essential paradox of drug use-many drugs have the potential to help or to harm. Therefore, there are three main categories of drug use-use, misuse or abuse. Drug Use refers to taking a drug correctly for a legitimate medical reason.