Drugs without prescription or over-the-counter drugs can be called all  the medicines that are sold to any purchaser without any health care professional's prescription like compared to the prescription drugs that can be sold to a customer just possessing some valid prescription. Usually a regulatory agency selects drugs without prescription to ensure these drugs are safe as well as effective products if used without a care of a physician. In major cases these are herbal products that contain only natural ingredients. Without prescription drugs are supposed to be particular safety concerns because they can be distributed as well as used without any direction of a professional. A patient may combine over-the-counter drugs with the prescription medicine; in this case the patient may cause the drug interactions in case these substances are incompatible. As well a patient may unintentionally take multiple without prescription drugs that contain the same ingredients, which might become the cause of an overdose and increased side-effect. A patients may also get more than recommended drug dose because the patient may not understand or just read the directions or may ignore them, thinking that a higher dose can be much more effective. Major part of over-the-counter drugs is really harmless but some of them may pose great risks if they are not used as it is directed.

Today one of the most widely used pharmacy types in developed countries is considered to be online pharmacy. It is a pharmacy that operates via the Internet. A lot of these pharmacies in some ways are almost the same as community pharmacies; the main difference here is the way the medications can be requested and received. Customers using online pharmacy consider this method to be much more convenient comparing with traveling to the community drugstores.

While a lot of online drug stores sell prescription drugs just with prescription, there are also some pharmacies that do not require any pre-written prescription. Buying drugs online without a prescription in some countries take place as prescription is not required. Many customers may order drugs without prescription online for avoiding the inconvenience while visiting the doctors (often in cases with women being ashamed of extra weight and getting diet pills anonymous) or for obtaining medications that the doctor was unwilling to prescribe. Patients may also shop online for pharmacy as medical care as well as prescription medications in their country can be too expensive. Major part of the websites employs the physicians for reviewing the medication requests and writing prescriptions accordingly. But a lot of sites may offer online drugs without prescription and any doctor's review. More often it happens in cases with discount online pharmacy that is in requisition because of low prices. Such pharmacies that offer medications without a doctor review and prescription or supervision are often fraudulent. This practice is often criticized like potentially dangerous and harmful, especially by people who know that just doctor can correctly assess contraindications, risk ratios as well as medication suitability for any specific individual.