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pharmacopoeia

(Encyclopedia)pharmacopoeia or pharmocopeia färˌməkəpēˈə [key], authoritative publication designating the properties, action, use, dosage, and standards of strength and purity of drugs. It is compiled under ...

drugs

(Encyclopedia)drugs, substances used in medicine either externally or internally for curing, alleviating, or preventing a disease or deficiency. At the turn of the century only a few medically effective substances ...

drug addiction and drug abuse

(Encyclopedia)drug addiction and drug abuse, chronic or habitual use of any chemical substance to alter states of body or mind for other than medically warranted purposes. Traditional definitions of addiction, with...

hypnotic drugs

(Encyclopedia)hypnotic drugs, drugs that induce sleep, sometimes called soporifics. In general, hypnotics are central nervous system depressants. Alcohol, laudanum (see opium), bromide salts, and herbs such as vale...

Food and Drug Administration

(Encyclopedia)Food and Drug Administration (FDA), agency of the Public Health Service division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. It is charged with protecting public health by ensuring that foods...

generic drug

(Encyclopedia)generic drug, a drug sold or prescribed under the nonproprietary name of its active ingredients or under a generally descriptive name rather than under a brand or trade name. The name of the active in...

orphan drug

(Encyclopedia)orphan drug, drug developed under the U.S. Orphan Drug Act (1983) to treat a disease that affects fewer than 200,000 people in the United States. The orphan drug law offers tax breaks and a seven-year...

designer drug

(Encyclopedia)designer drug, chemical substance synthesized in a laboratory that is intended to have effects similar to those of a drug that is a controlled substance, such as methamphetamine, marijuana, LSD, or an...

drug resistance

(Encyclopedia)drug resistance, condition in which infecting bacteria can resist the destructive effects of drugs such as antibiotics and sulfa drugs. Drug resistance has become a serious public health problem, sinc...

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