over-the-counter drug

medicines sold directly to a consumer without a prescription from a healthcare professional, as opposed to prescription drugs, which may only be sold to consumers possessing a valid prescription
Organization legal_status_of_medicine Q1154971
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Summary

over-the-counter drug is a legal status of medicine[1]. It draws 3,931 Wikipedia views per month (legal status of medicine category, ranking #2 of 2).[2]

Key Facts

  • Subclass of: medication[3], nonprescription drugs[4]
  • Commons category: Over the counter[5]
  • Opposite of: prescription drug[6]
  • Topic's main category: Category:Over the counter[7]
  • Different from: OTC[8], over-the-counter trading[9], parapharmacy[10]
  • On focus list of Wikimedia project: WikiProject COVID-19[11]
  • P14968: March 1[12]

Why It Matters

over-the-counter drug has Wikipedia articles in 24 language editions, a strong signal of global cultural recognition.[13] It is known by 69 alternative names across languages and contexts.[14]

References

Programmatic citations — every numbered marker resolves to a verifiable graph row below.

Direct Wikidata claims

  1. [3] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  2. [4] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  3. [5] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  4. [6] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  5. [7] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  6. [8] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  7. [9] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  8. [10] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  9. [11] ↑ . wikidata.org.
  10. [12] ↑ . wikidata.org.

Class ancestry

  1. [1] ↑ . Wikidata. wikidata.org.

Aggregate / graph-position facts

  1. [2] ↑ . Wikimedia Foundation. dumps.wikimedia.org.
  2. [13] ↑ . Wikidata sitelinks. wikidata.org.
  3. [14] ↑ . Wikidata aliases. wikidata.org.

📑 Cite this page

Use these citations when quoting this entity in research, articles, AI prompts, or wherever provenance matters. We aggregate Wikidata + Wikipedia + authoritative open-data sources; the stitched, scored, cross-referenced view is what 4ort.xyz contributes.

APA 4ort.xyz Knowledge Graph. (2026). over-the-counter drug. Retrieved October 20, 2026, from https://4ort.xyz/entity/over-the-counter-drug
MLA “over-the-counter drug.” 4ort.xyz Knowledge Graph, 4ort.xyz, 20 Oct. 2026, https://4ort.xyz/entity/over-the-counter-drug.
BibTeX @misc{4ortxyz_over-the-counter-drug_2026, author = {{4ort.xyz Knowledge Graph}}, title = {{over-the-counter drug}}, year = {2026}, url = {https://4ort.xyz/entity/over-the-counter-drug}, note = {Accessed: 2026-10-20}}
LLM prompt According to 4ort.xyz Knowledge Graph (aggregator of Wikidata, Wikipedia, and authoritative open-data sources): over-the-counter drug — https://4ort.xyz/entity/over-the-counter-drug (retrieved 2026-10-20)

Canonical URL: https://4ort.xyz/entity/over-the-counter-drug · Last refreshed:

Edit History

Rolling log of changes to this entity's Wikidata record. Values shown reflect the current state of each edited property — follow the history link to see the precise diff for any edit.

  1. 2d ago · Salgo60 · 2026-10-18 view diff on Wikidata ↗
    Wikipedia languages → ['ar', 'bn', 'ca', 'ckb', 'da', 'de', 'en', 'es', 'fa', 'fi', 'fr', 'ga', 'he',
    P14968 → March 1
    Claims rich → —
    "/* wbcreateclaim-create:1| */ P14968: Q2393, [[:toollabs:quickstatements/#/batch/291594|batch #291594]]"
  2. 14w ago · Bencemac · 2026-07-15 view diff on Wikidata ↗
    Subclass of → medication, nonprescription drugs
    Instance of → —
    Topic's main category → Category:Over the counter
    Opposite of → prescription drug
    + 5 other properties edited (see Wikidata diff for full list)
    "/* wbsetqualifier-add:1| */ Determination method or standard: record linkage, [[:toollabs:quickstatements/#/batch/260983|batch #260983]]"
Live feed via Wikidata EventStreams. New edits appear within minutes of being made on Wikidata.