Objective: In our country, the measure for the spread of the generic has been introduced over several-time as part of the moderation in health care cost plan.  However, not having related to an enough spread unlike Europe and America yet is a current state.  Then, we investigated from the view point of patients.  A detailed examination was performed for the acknowledgment level and attitude toward the generic drug.
Design and Method: The questionnaire survey was performed for the patient who used the community pharmacy for dispensing prescription.  The investigation was performed for two weeks (June and July, 2008) at the 50 drugstores in Hokkaido.  The patient attribute, source of information, and kind of the taking medicine were examined as a factor to affect decision making for generic drug substitution.
Result: The main results are as follows.  The patients who did not know generic drugs accounted 52% of the total and the patients who did not know the words called generic drugs was 16%.  This result shows that the degree of the recognition about generic drugs at that time was still low.  The information source for the patients who learned generic drugs were articles of the newspaper, a TV program, and advertising with accounted 52% of the total.  Also, the patients who prefer generic drugs in the future were 64%.  In the relationships between presence of wish for generic drugs and the source of information, the case of from the doctor, was significant (p<0.05) and the case from the pharmacist showed the tendencies of statistical significance (p=0.076).
Conclusion: From the viewpoint of medicine costs restraint in our country, it seems that the pharmacist contributes for the patient’s generic drugs selection expected positively.

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Objective: There are some cases in which the original drug and generic, or various generic drugs have different flavors.  In prescription substitution, there is concern that difference in the flavor of the drug will influence on medication adherence.  Therefore pharmacists should sufficiently understand information regarding the flavors of drugs.  We investigated the source of information on flavor and an actual flavor.
Methods: The study was limited to antibiotic powders for pediatric patients, 43 original drugs and 68 generic drugs were examined.  We collected information on the flavor by the paper document, such as pharmaceutical reference issued by the pharmaceutical companies, and by telephone.  We investigated the inclusion of the paper document, presence of descriptive information on the flavor listed in the paper document and the concordance between the flavor of the original drug and that of the generic drug.
Results: For both the original drugs and generics, a flavor was added to many drugs (86.0 and 91.2%, respectively).  There were many cases in which the original drug and generic drug had different flavors.  However, information on the flavor was only described on the paper document of 28.6% of original drugs and 45.3% of the generic drugs.  Inquiry to the pharmaceutical companies by telephone was needed to know the flavor of drugs not described.  The inclusion of the paper document varied greatly with each pharmaceutical company.
Conclusion: In the promotion of prescription substitution, it is necessary to promote proper administration of generic drugs by maintaining and collecting information on the flavor, and providing sufficient information to patients.

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Objective: Over-the-counter (OTC) drugs play an important role in medical treatment.  Triage and counseling by pharmacists are important to ensure that self-medication with OTC drugs is effective.
Methods: We conducted a questionnaire survey to evaluate the education about OTC drugs offered by 79 Japanese pharmaceutical universities, from August to September 2009.  The questionnaire asked whether or not lectures and practical training concerning OTC drugs are given to students, and if so, the number of hours and the school year in which they are given.  Questions about future plans were also included.
Results: The response rate was 70 %.  Eighty percent of respondent universities gave lectures on OTC drugs, and 98 % expected to do so in the future.  Lectures on OTC drugs were most commonly given in the fourth year.  Fifty percent of universities offered practical training about OTC drugs, and 75 % expected to do so in the future.
Conclusion: Compared with our 2005 survey, the number of universities offering lectures had increased more than twofold.  Although education about OTC drugs in pharmaceutical universities has improved, it remains insufficient.

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Objective: To investigate frequency of adverse drug reactions (ADR) on HIGURD ®
, a switch OTC product of azelastine hydrochloride, in a three-year post-marketing surveillance study.
Methods: We conducted two surveys in this study a solicited survey with a questionnaire and a survey of spontaneous ADR reports.
Results: A total of 183 cases with 293 ADRs were reported in the solicited survey on 3,453 consumers and a total of 29 cases with 37 ADRs were reported from spontaneous sources.  No serious ADRs were reported.  Most frequently reported ADRs were somnolence, thirst, malaise, and dysgeusia, all of which are common on azelastine hydrochloride.  This study indicated that HIGURD ®
is well tolerated.
Conclusion: This study suggested that efficacy and safety of HIGURD ®
depend on how much consumers understand the contents of “Precautions for Use” section of package insert.  It is considered to be effective for safety assurance in an early post-marketing phase that pharmacists inform consumers about appropriate use of HIGURD ®
and ask for the occurrence of ADRs.

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