Supplement vs. non-prescription

[anne]

Is a dietary or food supplement the same as a non-prescription pill? I always thought there was a difference between the two but my sister swears they are the same thing. I disagree. Anyone know for certain? I want to settle this debate.

[char]

Technically anything that is legally sold for health without a doctor's prescription is a non-prescription product. So a food supplement can be labeled a non-prescription product. That being said, usually when something is marketed as being "non-prescription" the manufacturer is drawing attention to the fact that it may contain a drug that is non-prescription such as ibuprophen, orlistat, etc. but the amount of this drug is low enough that it can be sold without a doctor's prescription, such as in the case of Advil and Alli.

That said, a lot of manufacturers of dietary supplement for weight loss like to call their herbal formulas non-prescription to market to those who are looking for alternatives to diet drugs like phentermine and Adipex.

[freddyboy]

As char said, anything that you can get without a prescription is technically non-prescription. That said, I personally think it implies more for actual products that contain pharmecutical drugs that you can obtain without a prescription, like over-the-counter pain meds, allergy drugs, etc.