Self-medication and drug misuse

Self-medication means to take drugs without getting permission from a doctor or without following the advice of a pharmacist. The drug could be bought without prescription in pharmacy or be available in family pharmacy. Self-medication drugs are considered to be safe for an appropriate use for the treatment of pathologies classed as "minor". However, data about their efficacy and risk remain insufficient and non transparent. The authors describe the danger of self-medication and the misuse of these drugs by several examples, such as per os nasal decongestants used for common cold which should induce rare but serious adverse effects (cardiovascular or neurologic adverse effects). In fact, the absence of clear distinction between the different statutes of health products facilitates their status changes. The increasing shift from "medicines" to less regulated products, the trivialization of their use by the public and their increasing consumption require to raise the awareness of consumers and health professionals. Furthermore, during the COVID-19 pandemic, several products were marketed as medical device as virucidal agent (nasal spray) without any efficacy. In conclusion, taken into account the increase use of products (drugs, food supplement, medical device. . .) in self-medication, it should be necessary to dispose an independent public database for self medication drugs with validated guidelines and to guarantee the marketing of these drugs with a favourable benefit/risk ratio by an active pharmacovigilance for detection of rare or serious adverse effects.& COPY; 2022 l'Academie nationale de medecine. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.