Drugs prescribed by a physician to prevent or treat symptoms are generally referred to as __________.

• A. OTC drugs
• B. Medicines
• C. Prescriptions
• D. Narcotics

Answer: (B)

Medications prescribed by a physician are referred to as medicines. This term covers the drugs themselves used to prevent or treat illnesses, whether they require a clinician’s authorization or not in general usage. The word “prescriptions” refers to the written order a doctor provides to obtain a drug, not the drug itself. Over-the-counter drugs are those you can buy without a prescription, which is a different concept from drugs that need a clinician’s authorization. Narcotics are a specific subgroup of drugs with particular regulatory controls and uses, not the broad category for all prescribed drugs. So the best fit for the drugs themselves is medicines.