Deregulation of medicines update
It is heartening to see more and more medical products get successfully deregulated from Pharmacy to GSL (General Sales List), and others from Prescription-only (POM) to Pharmacy. For a complete list of the medicines and the exemption criteria, you could refer to the HSA webpage here.
Do note that the deregulation for any particular medicine applies not only to the product brand name but it is also SIN (registration number) and packaging-specific.
Some recent deregulated items to GSL which is another term for over-the-counter aka no need to register on purchase are:
- Fluimucil for phlegm
- Nizoral for dandruff control
- Kefentech Air (ingredient and strength same as the good 'o Kefentech plaster) for muscle and joint pains
- Zyrtec R for allergy, itch and runny nose
- Telfast 120mg for allergy, itch and runny nose
- Nurofen and its variants for pain, fever
- Aleve for pain, fever
- Strepsils Chesty Cough lozenge for phelgm
- Rhinathiol syrups (except the one with Promethazine) for phlegm
- Loceryl nail lacquer for nail fungus treatment
- Regaine 2%/ 5% and all other minoxidil-containing brands for hair loss treatment
* New fastum gel, Mucosolvan and Mucolix are on waiting list to be released over-the-counter
As many of the moderate-to-strong steroid creams are now conveniently available as Pharmacy-only, do take note that they are only allowed for use in patient above 18 years old (not sure why the magic number is 18, not 17, 12 or any other) according to the HSA's regulation. Main reasons against 'self-medication' for children are the increased risks versus adults for adrenal hormone suppression, Cushing's syndrome and risk of infection on applied area. So please don't kpkb when the pharmacist refused to dispense for use in children.
Most medications are meant for short-term relief of minor ailment conditions and have no sufficient data for prolonged (eg. weeks or months) usage. So even though the above list of medicines can be freely purchased 'without restrictions', do exercise caution when self-medicating. I would not go into the dreary details of their adverse effects and drug interactions as you could easily look them up via online resources like Medscape, Mayoclinic or just ask your pharmacist if in doubt.
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Do note that the deregulation for any particular medicine applies not only to the product brand name but it is also SIN (registration number) and packaging-specific.
Some recent deregulated items to GSL which is another term for over-the-counter aka no need to register on purchase are:
- Fluimucil for phlegm
- Nizoral for dandruff control
- Kefentech Air (ingredient and strength same as the good 'o Kefentech plaster) for muscle and joint pains
- Zyrtec R for allergy, itch and runny nose
- Telfast 120mg for allergy, itch and runny nose
- Nurofen and its variants for pain, fever
- Aleve for pain, fever
- Strepsils Chesty Cough lozenge for phelgm
- Rhinathiol syrups (except the one with Promethazine) for phlegm
- Loceryl nail lacquer for nail fungus treatment
- Regaine 2%/ 5% and all other minoxidil-containing brands for hair loss treatment
* New fastum gel, Mucosolvan and Mucolix are on waiting list to be released over-the-counter
As many of the moderate-to-strong steroid creams are now conveniently available as Pharmacy-only, do take note that they are only allowed for use in patient above 18 years old (not sure why the magic number is 18, not 17, 12 or any other) according to the HSA's regulation. Main reasons against 'self-medication' for children are the increased risks versus adults for adrenal hormone suppression, Cushing's syndrome and risk of infection on applied area. So please don't kpkb when the pharmacist refused to dispense for use in children.
Most medications are meant for short-term relief of minor ailment conditions and have no sufficient data for prolonged (eg. weeks or months) usage. So even though the above list of medicines can be freely purchased 'without restrictions', do exercise caution when self-medicating. I would not go into the dreary details of their adverse effects and drug interactions as you could easily look them up via online resources like Medscape, Mayoclinic or just ask your pharmacist if in doubt.
***
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