page_title: Medication
hierarchical_section_title: Medication
caption_attribution_description: English: Title Man Consults with Pharmacist Description An older African-American man talks to a Caucasian female pharmacist as she explains his prescription. Topics/Categories Locations -- Clinic/Hospital People -- Adult People -- Health Professional and Patient Type Color, Photo Source National Cancer Institute
context_page_description: A medication is a drug used to diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent disease. Drug therapy is an important part of the medical field and relies on the science of pharmacology for continual advancement and on pharmacy for appropriate management.
  Drugs are classified in multiple ways. One of the key divisions is by level of control, which distinguishes prescription drugs from over-the-counter drugs. Another key distinction is between traditional small-molecule drugs, usually derived from chemical synthesis, and biopharmaceuticals, which include recombinant proteins, vaccines, blood products used therapeutically, gene therapy, monoclonal antibodies and cell therapy. Other ways to classify medicines are by mode of action, route of administration, biological system affected, or therapeutic effects. An elaborate and widely used classification system is the Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical Classification System. The World Health Organization keeps a list of essential medicines.
  Drug discovery and drug development are complex and expensive endeavors undertaken by pharmaceutical companies, academic scientists, and governments.
context_section_description: A medication (also referred to as medicine, pharmaceutical drug, or simply drug) is a drug used to diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent disease. Drug therapy (pharmacotherapy) is an important part of the medical field and relies on the science of pharmacology for continual advancement and on pharmacy for appropriate management.
  Drugs are classified in multiple ways. One of the key divisions is by level of control, which distinguishes prescription drugs (those that a pharmacist dispenses only on the order of a physician, physician assistant, or qualified nurse) from over-the-counter drugs (those that consumers can order for themselves). Another key distinction is between traditional small-molecule drugs, usually derived from chemical synthesis, and biopharmaceuticals, which include recombinant proteins, vaccines, blood products used therapeutically (such as IVIG), gene therapy, monoclonal antibodies and cell therapy (for instance, stem-cell therapies). Other ways to classify medicines are by mode of action, route of administration, biological system affected, or therapeutic effects. An elaborate and widely used classification system is the Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical Classification System (ATC system). The World Health Organization keeps a list of essential medicines.
  Drug discovery and drug development are complex and expensive endeavors undertaken by pharmaceutical companies, academic scientists, and governments. As a result of this complex path from discovery to commercialization, partnering has become a standard practice for advancing drug candidates through development pipelines.  Governments generally regulate what drugs can be marketed, how drugs are marketed, and in some jurisdictions, drug pricing.   Controversies have arisen over drug pricing and disposal of used drugs.
caption: Pharmacists are medication experts.
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