Distinguishing Between Over-the-Counter and Prescription Medicine

• OTC Medicine Safety Assessment Quiz printable
• OTC Medicine Safety Answer Key printable
• Empty fever reducer medicine bottle with dosing cup
• Over-the-Counter Medicine Safety Classroom Poster printable
• Compare Over-the-Counter vs. Prescription Medicines printable
• Paper
• Pen or pencil
• Medicine Safety for Families Newsletter printable
• Optional: Computer with Internet access

1. If needed, use the Principal Pitch Letter to share with your administration your interest in teaching the program. As needed, circulate A Note From Your Child’s Teacher (Parent Opt-Out Form) before starting the program.
2. Emphasize to students that they should never take medicine without the supervision of a parent or trusted adult.

Step 1: Assess students’ knowledge of medication. Explain that without the information and comprehensive understanding they need to make safe choices about medicine, kids can easily do more harm than good. Tell students that it’s important to have an understanding of safe medicine use as they become more responsible for their own self-care. Have students complete the OTC Medicine Safety Assessment Quiz printable. Save the completed quizzes, as students will complete the same quiz for a post-program comparison.

Step 2: Begin a class discussion by asking students to brainstorm what they do when they get sick.

(Answers may include: go to the doctor, take medicine, rest, drink water or juice, stay home from school, etc.) Mention that there are many ways that doctors treat sickness, one of which is recommending medicine.

Step 3: Display the Food and Drug Administration’s definition of a drug: “an article intended for use in the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of disease in man or other animals.” As a class, use context clues and reference materials to decode this definition.

• Article  – an item
• Diagnosis  – determining the cause of someone’s illness
• Mitigation  – making something less serious or unpleasant

Step 4: Explain that medicines fall into two categories: OTC or prescription. These categories are defined as follows:

● Over-the-counter (OTC) medicine: Medicine that is bought in a pharmacy, drugstore, or supermarket and obtained without the need for a doctor’s prescription.

● Prescription (Rx) medicine: Medicine that is specially ordered for you by a doctor or other qualified healthcare practitioner, available only from the pharmacist. Ask students to brainstorm different medicines that belong in the OTC or Rx category. Then, using the FDA’s definition of a drug, ask students to brainstorm OTC medicines that might be overlooked. (Possibilities include cough drops, eye drops, ointments, antiseptic spray, etc.). Ask students to explain how these items fit the definition of a drug.

Step 5: At the front of the class, display and identify each of the following items: a sample of an OTC bottle of fever reducer, the age-appropriate dosing device, and the Over-the-Counter Medicine Safety Classroom Poster printable.

Step 6: Explain that every medicine is unique and has a certain set of characteristics that enable it to treat specific symptoms. Have students recall a time when they had to take medicine. Ask students:

● What measuring tools or devices has your parent or a trusted adult used to give you liquid medicines?

● Has anyone ever taken medicine without the permission of a trusted adult? If so, why?

● Have you ever read the Drug Facts label on an OTC medicine container?

Step 7: Point out that every medicine comes with dosing directions, and that dosing instructions on OTC medicines appear on the Drug Facts label. Reinforce the importance of always communicating with a trusted adult before taking any medicine. The purpose of these instructions is to help make sure that the medicine is taken correctly. When we do not follow instructions, the medicine may not work the way it is meant to, it can make you feel worse, or it can even hurt you. You may have allergic reactions or experience side effects like dizziness or nausea. Sometimes when you mix certain foods with a medicine, the medicine does not work properly.

Step 8: Organize the class into groups of three or four. Distribute the Compare Over-the-Counter vs.Prescription Medicines printable and have teams complete it. Discuss their answers as a class and invite any follow-up questions about the lesson.

Step 9: Provide students with the following prompts:

● How does a medicine become approved for over-the-counter use?

● Are there any medicines that used to be available by prescription only but are now available over-the-counter?

Research the answers to these questions, and write a paragraph describing your findings.

Step 10: Distribute the Medicine Safety for Families Newsletter printable and encourage the students to continue the discussion at home.

Encourage students to discuss what they have learned about the Poison Help number Medicine Safety for Families Newsletter printable, to post the number in a visible place in their home, and to get family members to save the number in their mobile phones.