The document discusses the key aspects of a prescription, including: 1. The definition of a prescription as a written order from a medical practitioner for a pharmacist to dispense medication for a patient. 2. The main parts of a prescription including the date, patient information, drug ingredients, dosing instructions, and prescriber information. 3. The steps a pharmacist takes to handle a prescription, which involves receiving, reading, collecting ingredients, compounding the medication, and labeling. 4. Common errors in prescriptions such as abbreviations, drug names, doses, instructions, and incompatibilities that a pharmacist must check for.

1. Venugopal N
Assistant Professor
PHARMACEUTICS - 1
PRESCRIPTION

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CONTENT
 Definition
 Parts of Prescription
 Latin terms and abbreviations used in prescription.
 Handling of Prescription
 Errors in Prescription

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Prescription
from through to

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Definition
Prescription is a written order from a registered medical
practitioner/doctor/physician or other licensed practitioners,
such as dentist, veterinarian, etc. through a patient for a
pharmacist to compound and dispense a specific medication.
OR
Prescription is a written order from a registered medical
practitioner/doctor/physician or other licensed practitioners,
such as dentist, veterinarian, etc. to a pharmacist to compound
and dispense a specific medication for the patient.

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Parts of Prescription
1. Date
2. Name, age, sex, and address of the patient
3. Superscription
4. Inscription
5. Subscription
6. Signatura
7. Renewal Instructions
8. Signature, address and registration number of the
prescriber.

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1. Date
• Every prescription must bear the date on it.
• It helps a pharmacist to find out the date of prescribing and
date of presentation for filling the prescription.
• This helps the pharmacist to keep day-day Patient’s record in
chronologic order which helps the pharmacist or a physician to
refer the old case in future.
• To avoid misuse of the narcotic or other habitat forming drugs
containing prescriptions by the patient a number of times for
dispensing.

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2. Name, Age, Sex, Address of Patient
• Name, Age, Sex and Address of the patient must be written on
the prescription.
• Name helps the pharmacist to identify the correct Patients
avoiding any chance of giving the medicine to a person other
than the one it is dispensed for.
• Note: patient’s full name must be written instead of nicknames
or surnames.

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• Age of the patient becomes important in the case of the Pediatric
(children) and Geriatric (old people) cases.
• Because the dose of drugs in such cases varies(due to their
differences in ability to metabolize drugs).
• Hence dose of the drugs are calculated based on the age factor in such
cases.
• Note: In some cases weight and height of the patients are also required.
• Sex/Gender of the patient also plays major role in prescription
because dose of drugs may also vary based on the sex/gender of the
patient(as their abilities to metabolize/ response towards drugs may
vary in many cases).
• Address of the patient is generally recorded to contact the person at
the later stage or to deliver the medication personally

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3. Superscription
• This part of the prescription is represented by the symbol “RX”.
• It is used as a abbreviation for the Latin term “Take Thou”
which means “you take”
• In the ancient times it is considered as a prayer to Jupiter, the
God of healing for the fast recovery of the patient.

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4. Inscription
• This is considered as the main part of the prescription order.
• It contains the names and quantities of the prescribed
ingredients.
• The name of each ingredient is written on a separate along with
its quantity.

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• In the complex prescription containing several ingredients the
inscription can be divided into following parts:
– Base (active medicament of therapeutic action)
– Adjuvants(substances added to increase action of medicament/ its
palatability)
– Vehicle(substance used to dissolve medicament/increase volume
of preparation)
• Nowadays, the majority of the drugs are prescribed which are already
in a suitable formulation. The pharmacist is required to dispense the
ready-made form of drugs. So, compounding of prescription is almost
eliminated.

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5. Subscription
• This part of the prescription contains directions of the
prescriber to the pharmacist regarding the type and
compounding of dosage form along with number of doses to be
dispensed.
• This is important because dose of drug also depends on the
type of the dosage form.
*fiat – make, mistura – Mixture = Make a mixture

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7. Signatura
• This part of the prescription contains directions to the patient
regarding the administration of the drugs.
• It is generally represented as ‘Sig’ on the prescription.
*cochleare magnum – one tablespoon
*ter in die – three times a day
*post cibos – after meals
*sumenda – to be taken

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8. Refill/Renewal
Renewal instructions:
• In this part, the prescriber whether the prescription can be
renewed or not.
• It also should include the specifications like how many times it
can be renewed
• It is of utmost importance incase of narcotic/other habitat
forming drugs.

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8. Signature, address & Registration number of
prescriber
• The signature and Regd.no of the prescriber turns the
prescription into legal and authentic order to the pharmacist.
• This helps in preventing the use of spurious drugs.
• Regd.no is of utmost importance in prescription containing
narcotic drugs to prevent its misuse.

18. Latin terms used in
prescription

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ABBREVIATION FULL LATIN WORD ENGLISH TRANSLATION
DOSAGE FORMS
tab Tabella Tablet
caps Capsula Capsule
pulv Pulvis Powder
collyr Collyrium Eye wash
crem Cremor Cream
emul Emulsio Emulsion
collut Collutorium Mouth wash
lin Linctus Linctus
lini Linimentum Liniment

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ABBREVIATION FULL LATIN WORD ENGLISH TRANSLATION
lot Lotio Lotion
m, mist Mistura Mixture
narist Naristillae Nasal drops
past Pasta Paste
pill Pilula Pill
auristill Auristille Ear drops
ung Unguentum Ointment
suppos Suppositorium Suppository
inj Injectis Injection

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ABBREVIATION FULL LATIN WORD ENGLISH TRANSLATION
TIME OF ADMINISTRATION
Sem in die Semel in die Once a day
b.i.d, b.d Bis in die, Bis die Twice a day
t.i.d, t.d Ter in die Three times a day
CORRELATED TIME
a.c Anti cibos Before meals
p.c Post cibos After meals
i.c Inter cibos Between meals

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ABBREVIATION FULL LATIN WORD ENGLISH TRANSLATION
DIFFERENT TIME OF THE DAY
Prim. m Primo mane Early in the morning
m Mane In the morning
o.m Omni mane Every morning
o.n Omni nocte Every night
Inter nocte Inter nocte During the night
jentac Jentaculum Breakfast
n.m Nocte et mane Night and morning

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ABBREVIATION FULL LATIN WORD ENGLISH TRANSLATION
HOUR TIME
o.h. Omni hora Every hour
o.q.h. Omni quarta hora Every fourth hour
alt. hor. Alternis horis Every two hours
tert. hor. Tertis horis Every three hours
Quart. hor. Quartis horis Every four hour
Sext. Hor. Sextis horis Every six hours

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ABBREVIATION FULL LATIN WORD ENGLISH TRANSLATION
METHOD OF ADMINISTRATION OR APPLICATION
addend Addendus To be added
applicand Applicandus To be applied
capiend
S or sum
Capiendus
Sumendus
To be taken
dand Dandus To be given
deglut Deglutiendus To be swallowed
inhal Inhaletur To be inhaled
miscend Miscendus To be mixed
U or utend Ultendus To be used

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ABBREVIATION FULL LATIN WORD ENGLISH TRANSLATION
VEHICLE USED
Coch
amp
mag
max
Cochleare
Amplum
Magnum
Maximum
One tablespoon
Coch.med. Cochleare medium One teaspoonful
c cum With
c. dup. Cum duplo With twice as much
c. pt. aeq. Cum parte aequale With an equal quantity
Cyath. Amp. Cyathus amplus A tumbler
e. lact. E.lacte With milk
Ex.aq Ex.aqua With water

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ABBREVIATION FULL LATIN WORD ENGLISH TRANSLATION
PARTS OF THE BODY
a.d. Auris dexter To right ear
a.l. Auris laevus To left ear
brach. Brachis To the body
Jug. Jugulo To the throat
_ Naso To the nose
o.d. Oculis dexter To right eye
o.l Oculis leaves To left eye
o.s. Os,oris To mouth

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ABBREVIATION FULL LATIN WORD ENGLISH TRANSLATION
MISCELLANEOUS
ad Ad Upto
a Ante Before
cibos Cibos Meals, food
ft. Fiat Make it
h Hora An hour
om Omni Every
Rx Recipe Take
ss Semi Half
omn Omni Every

28. Handling of Prescription

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Steps
The following steps are to be followed during handling of a
prescription for compounding and dispensing:
1. Receiving
2. Reading and checking
3. Collecting and weighing the material
4. Compounding, labeling and packing

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1. Receiving
• The prescription should be received by the pharmacist himself.
• While receiving, he shouldn't change any facial expressions,
which gives an impression to the patient that he is surprised or
confused after seeing the prescription.

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2. Reading and checking
• On receiving the prescription the pharmacist should check the
prescription whether it is written in a proper format.
• The prescription should always be screened behind the counter.
• Any doubts in case of prescription ingredients or drugs and
directions he should discuss with another senior pharmacist or
physician but not with the patient.
• Pharmacist should never guess about the meaning of any illegal or
confused word.

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What to check in a prescription… ?
• Error in dosage
• Wrong drug or dosage form
• Contra indicated drugs
• Synergistic and Antagonistic drugs
• Drug interactions.
Sometimes prescription is received on telephone by senior
pharmacist. In such case, after taking down the prescription, it
should be verified by repeating it on phone to the prescriber.

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It is very important because nowadays, the number of drugs with
almost the same pronunciation and spelling are available in the
market.
For example,
Acidin Apidin
Prednisone Prednisolone
Digoxin Digitoxin
Althrocin Eltroxin

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3. Collecting and Weighing the material
• Before compounding the prescription, all the materials required
for it are collected on the left side of the balance.
• After weighing each material should be shifted on to the right
side of the balance.
Note: while compounding label of the stock bottle should be read
at least three times to avoid any error:
– When taken from the shelf
– When the contents are removed for weighing/measuring
– When containers are returned back to its proper place

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4. Compounding, labeling and packaging
• Compounding should be carried out in a neat place.
• All the equipment required are cleaned and dried thoroughly.
• Only one prescription should be compounded at a time.
• The compounded materials should be filled in a suitable
container based on quantity and use.
• The size of the label should be proportional to the size of the
container.
• Label should contain the required suggestions/directions to the
patient.

36. Errors in Prescription

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Errors
 Abbreviation
 Name of the drug
 Strength of the preparation
 Dosage form and drug prescribed
 Dose
 Instructions to patient
 Incompatibilities

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1. Abbreviation
• Abbreviation presents a problem in understanding parts of the
prescription order.
• Extreme care should be taken by a pharmacist in interpreting
the abbreviation.
• Pharmacist should not guess at the meaning of an ambiguous
abbreviation , eg: to dispense achromycin for “achro” may cause
difficulty when the intention of the prescriber is to dispence
achrostatin
• The abbreviation “SSKI” represents the use of a short hand for
saturated solutions and chemical symbols for potassium iodide.

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2.Name of the drug
• There are certain drugs whose name look or sound like those of
other drugs
• Some of the examples of such drugs are as under
Indocine Linococin
Prednisone Prednisolone
Doridon Doxidon
Pabalate Robalate
Digoxin Digitoxin
Althrocin Eltroxin

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• Name of the pharmaceutical products have been changed on
certain occasion due to the possible confusion with the name of
other product, e.g. the name of potassium supplement was
changed from kalyum to kolyum because of the possible
confusion of the former designation with valium

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3.Strength of the preparation
• The strength of the preparation should be stated by the
prescriber
• It is essential when various strengths of a product are available
in the market
• For example , it will be a wrong decision on the part of a
pharmacist to dispense paracetamol tablet 500 mg when
prescription for paracetamol tablet is received with no specific
strength.

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4.Dosage form of the drug prescribed
• Many medicines are available in more than one dosage form
e.g., liquid, tablet, capsule and suppository
• The pharmaceutical form of the product should be written on
the prescription in order to avoid ambiguity.

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5. Dose
• Unusually high or low doses should be discussed with the
prescriber
• Paediatric dosage may present a problem, so pharmacist should
consult paediatric posology to avoid any error
• Sometimes a reasonable dose is administrated too frequently
e.g., a prescription for sustained release formulation to be
administrated after very four hours should be thoroughly
checked because such dosage forms are usually administrated
only two or three times a day

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6.Instructions for patients
• The instruction for the patient which are given in the
prescription are completed or omitted
• The quantity of the drug to be taken , the frequently of the drug
to be taken, the frequently and timing of administration, and
route of administration should be clearly given in the
prescription so as to avoid any confusion.

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7.Incompatibilities
• It is essential to check that there are no pharmaceutical or
therapeutic incompatibilities in a preparation and that different
medicines prescribed for the same patient do not interact with
each other to produce any harm to the patient
• Certain antibiotics should not be given with meals since it
significantly decrease the absorption of the drug

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QUESTION BANK
1. Define Prescription and enlist the different parts of
prescription.
2. Explain in brief the different parts of old prescription with a
neat labeled diagram.
3. Explain the steps involved in handling of prescription.
4. Discuss the different errors may occur in prescription.

47. THANK YOU