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 How to use medicine-chest
Welcome to medicine-chest, a comprehensive directory
of 'over the counter' (OTC) medicines and food supplements. The
site is brought to you by PAGB (Proprietary Association of Great
Britain) the trade association representing manufacturers of these
products in the UK. You can find out more about PAGB at www.pagb.co.uk
Medicine-chest started life 8 years ago as a printed directory
of OTC products available, and was distributed to GPs and pharmacists
to help them advise their patients as to the best way to treat
their symptoms. This new online version has been designed with
the consumer in mind and gives individuals the opportunity to
search for products suitable for particular symptoms.
We hope you find the site useful and informative. Please take
a few minutes to complete our questionnaire to let us know what
you think about the site and how we can improve it.
If you experience any difficulties in using the site, please
email us at info@pagb.co.uk.
Please note that we cannot give health advice to individuals by
email. For this, you should speak to your pharmacist, GP or practice
nurse. You may also find our links
page useful.
Searching for products
Using the search facility is easy. You can either move the cursor
over the body figures to highlight the area where the symptoms
are, or use the drop down arrows on the list of symptoms to the
right of the body figures. Tick the boxes next to the symptoms
you would like to search for and then click the “display products”
button. For more detailed information on the products displayed,
click on the product name or picture. You can print out the selected
products and take them to your pharmacist where you can buy the
product.
You can narrow or widen the search by using one or more of the
following search modifiers:
- Age – if you type in the age of the person
the product is for (the patient), the search will only show you
products suitable for persons of that age. This is particularly
useful if you are searching for products suitable for children or
infants.
- Manufacturer – use this button to display
products from a particular manufacturer
- Product name – if you want to find out
information about a product of which you already know the name,
this search button allows you to go straight to that product
- Legal Status - this will tell you how widely available the
product is to buy.
P medicines are only available from pharmacies where
the pharmacist will give expert advice on its use.
GSL medicines (General Safety List) can be sold more widely - for
example in supermarkets, garage forecourts or convenience stores.
- Active ingredient – if you know the name of the active ingredient
of the product(s) you are looking for you can use this modifier
to include or exclude products containing that ingredient. For
example you might want to bring up a list of only those pain
relievers that contain paracetamol as the active ingredient.
Terms and conditions
The information provided in MedicineChest is for guidance only.
PAGB has made every effort to check and double-check that all
the product information in the website is correct. It is however
important that you read the label and/or patient information leaflet
every time you take a medicine or health supplement for the first
time and make sure that you follow the instructions. If you are
unsure about anything – ask your pharmacist, GP or practice nurse
– particularly if you are taking any other medication.
Home medicine chest fact sheets
PAGB’s Consumer Health Information Centre (CHIC)– our educational
service for consumers about self-medication, has produced a number
of factsheets to help you build up a medicine chest of useful
products that are handy to keep in the home for when minor illness
occur. These are reproduced below. For more information about
CHIC and the other CHIC campaigns, visit the website at www.chic.org.uk
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