Trend of the labeling of the drug code on ethical ointments in tube (including creams and jellies) was investigated by means of questionnaires. Drug codes were indicated at 37.5% of 456 preparations surveyed. While 69.9% of the companies selling or manufacturing ointment products did not put the drug code on any of their preparations, 15.1% of the companies labeled the drug code on all of their products. The larger the number of products per company became, the higher the rate of preparations wearing the drug code was. Drug codes were printed on labels in 65.9% of the preparations, and on the tube in 32.9%. More than 37% of the companies surveyed had no plan to use the drug code for their ointment products.
It is generally recognized that the drug code is useful to identify such preparations as tablets and capsules. Therefore, wider labeling of the code on ointments is desired.