A prescription drug (also prescription medication or
prescription medicine) is a licensed medicine that is regulated
by legislation to require a medical prescription before it can
be obtained. The term is used to distinguish it from over-the-
counter drugs which can be obtained without a prescription.
Different jurisdictions have different definitions of what
constitutes a prescription drug. "Rx" is often used as a short
form for prescription drug in North America. It is an
abbreviation for the Latin "recipe", an imperative form of
"recipere", meaning "take". Prescription drugs are often
dispensed together with a monograph (in Europe, a Patient
Information Leaflet or PIL) that gives detailed information
about the drug. Regulation in United States  |Regulation of
therapeutic goods in the United States| In the United States,
the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act defines what requires a
prescription. Prescription drugs are generally authorized by
veterinarians, dentists, optometrists, medical practitioners, an