1.4 | DOH Definition of Terms

Active Ingredient

That portion of a drug that has therapeutic properties.

Antineoplastic

Acting to prevent, inhibit or halt development of a neoplasm (tumor). It is an agent with antineoplastic properties. Oxaliplatin (Eloxatin) is an antineoplastic used in the treatment of metastatic colon cancer.

Area Under the Curve (AUC)

Refers to the amount or extent of drug absorption.

Bin Card I

A stock record form in which information on receipts, prices, issuances, and balances of stocks is recorded. It is maintained with each product in the storage area as a duplicate record.

Bioavailability

Refers to the rate and extent of availability of an active ingredient from a dosage form as measured by the concentration/time curve in the systemic circulation or its excretion in the urine.

Bioequivalence

Refers to two related drugs that show comparable bioavailability and similar times to achieve peak blood concentration.

Biological Products

Viruses, sera, toxins, and analogous products used for the prevention/cure of diseases.

Clinical Toxicology

Focuses on the effects of substances in patients caused by accidental poisoning or intentional overdoses of medications, drugs of abuse, household products, or other chemicals.

Cold Chain Monitors

Cards used to monitor the temperature of vaccines during distribution.

Dangerous Drugs

Refers to drugs included in the list of Schedules annexed to the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, as amended by the 1972 protocol, and in the Schedules annexed to the 1971 Single Convention on Psychotropic Substances as enumerated in the annexes which are an integral part of the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.

Device

An instrument, apparatus, or contrivance, including their components, parts, and accessories, intended for the cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of disease in man or animals, or to affect the structure or any function of the body in man or animals.

Dispensing

Act by a validly registered pharmacist of filling a prescription or doctor's order on the patient's chart.

Drug-Drug Interaction

Pharmacologic or clinical response to the administration of a drug combination different from that anticipated from the known effects of the two agents when given alone.

Drug Outlets

Drugstores, hospital pharmacies, and other business establishments that sell drugs or medicines.

Drug Product or Medicine

A finished form that contains the active ingredient(s) generally, but not necessarily, in association with inactive ingredients.

Drugs

1. Articles recognized in the current official United States Pharmacopeia-National Drug Formulary (USP-NF), Official Homeopathic Pharmacopoeia of the United States, Official Philippine National Drug Formulary, or any supplement to any of them; and

2. Articles intended for use in the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of disease in man or animals; and

3. Articles (other than food) intended to affect the structure or function of the body in man or animals; and

4. Articles intended for use as a component of any articles specified in clauses (1), (2), or (3), but do not include devices or their components, parts, or accessories."

First Expiry First Out (FEFO)

A method of inventory management in which products with the earliest expiry date are the first products issued, regardless of the order in which they are received. This method is more demanding than FIFO.

First In First Out (FIFO)

A method of inventory management in which the first products received are the first products issued.

Generic Dispensing

Dispensing the patient's/buyer's choice from among generic equivalents (i.e., finished pharmaceutical products having the same active ingredient(s), same dosage form, and same strength as the prescribed drug.

Generic Prescribing

Prescribing drugs and medicines using their generic name(s) or generic terminology.

Generic Substitution

The act of dispensing a different branded or unbranded drug product for the drug product prescribed (i.e., a pharmaceutical equivalent distributed by a different company).

Inventory

The total stock kept on hand at any storage point to protect against uncertainty, permit bulk purchasing, minimize waiting time, increase transportation efficiency, and buffer against seasonal fluctuations.

Inventory Control

A method of supply management that aims to provide sufficient stocks of drugs at the lowest costs possible.

Menu Card

A list of drug products in generic names with brand names, (if any), and corresponding selling prices, which is posted outside the dispensing area of the hospital pharmacy. It should be readily accessible to the patient/consumer.

Medication Error

Any preventable event that may cause or lead to inappropriate medication use or patient harm, while the medication is in the control of the healthcare professional, patient, or consumer.

Non-Prescription or OTC Drug

Drugs that may be dispensed even without an order of a validly registered physician, dentist, or veterinarian in duly licensed drug outlets. When dispensing OTC drugs without a doctor's prescription, it is the duty of the pharmacist to provide the necessary information and direction for the use of the drug product.

Overdose

An intentional toxic exposure either in the form of a suicide attempt or as an inadvertent exposure secondary to intentional drug abuse.

Pallet

A transportable flat storage base with or without sides, designed to hold goods and to permit handling by mechanical aids such as pallet trucks and forklifts.

Peak Plasma Drug Concentration (Cmax)

The plasma drug concentration at Tmax that relates to the intensity of the pharmacological response.

Piggyback Infusions

Solutions or dilutions given through a secondary line. This is used to administer doses of IV medications such as potassium or antibiotics. The primary line would be the infusion directly connected to a solution administration set going to the venous access. The piggyback is going through another set which tubing will be connected to the injection port of the main line when piggyback unit is hung on an IV pole of at least 6 inches higher than the primary container

Pharmaceutical Care

The responsible provision of pharmaco- therapy for the purpose of achieving definite outcomes that improve or maintain a patient's quality of life. It is a collaborative process aimed to prevent, identify, and solve medicinal products and health related problems. This is a continuous quality improvement process for the use of medicinal products.

Pharmaceutical Equivalence

Medicinal products that contain the same active ingredient(s) in the same dosage forms that meet the same or comparable standards. Pharmaceutical equivalence does not necessarily imply bioequivalence, as differences in excipients and/or the manufacturing process can lead to faster or slower dissolution and/or absorption.

Pharmacodynamics

The response following administration of a drug is directly related to the concentration of the drug at the site of its action, which is a function of the dose administered.

Pharmacoeconomics

The scientific discipline that compares the value of one pharmaceutical drug or drug therapy to another. It is also defined as "the description and analysis of the costs of drug therapy to healthcare systems and society."

Pharmacokinetics

The quantitative items depend on changes of both the plasma drug concentration and the total amount of drug in the body, following the drug's administration by various routes.

Pharmacy

The branch of pharmacology that deals with the preparation, dispensing, and proper use of drugs.

Pharmacotherapeutics

The study of the uses of drugs in the treatment of disease.

Poison

Any drug, active principle, or preparation of the same is capable of destroying life or seriously endangering health when applied externally to the body or introduced internally in moderate doses.

Poisoning

Accidental toxic exposure (e.g. the case of an elderly patient who misreads a drug label) or unintentional (e.g. the case of an inquisitive toddler or a child who gives drugs to another child when 'playing doctor") or unawareness of the toxic pressure (e.g. he or she is the victim of an intended homicide)

Prescription

A written or electronic order and instruction of a validly registered physician, dentist, or veterinarian for the use of a specific drug product for a specific patient or animal. For the purpose of these Rules and Regulations, the doctor's order on the patient's chart for the use of specific drug(s) shall be considered a prescription.

Prescription or Ethical Drugs

Drugs that can only be dispensed upon a written order of a validly registered physician, dentist, or veterinarian.

Quality Assurance

An investigational function involves the auditing of quality control procedures and systems with suggestions for changes as needed.

STAT Orders

Defined as emergency medications (needed only in life threatening situations) and written by the prescribing physician. The physician calls a STAT order to the attention of the nurse so it can be taken off the chart immediately. Pharmacy can fill these orders in five (5) minutes or less if the order is called down and ready for pick up.

S-3 License

A license issued by PDEA to the pharmacists who sell, procure, acquire, deal in or with specified (a) dangerous drugs preparations or (b) drug preparations, in parenteral or tablet or capsule form, containing Table I controlled chemicals as the only active medicinal ingredient or containing Table I controlled chemical and therapeutically insignificant quantities of another active medicinal ingredient. It covers activities granted to S1 license holders.

Stock card

A stock record form that provides basic information for inventory management by recording all transactions for an item including receipts, issues, orders received and stock losses.

Therapeutic equivalence

Two similar drugs have comparable efficacy and safety.

Therapeutic Index

The ratio of the dose that produces toxicity to the dose that produces critically desired or effective response in a population of individuals.

Time for Peak Plasma Drug Concentration (Tmax)

Relates to the rate constants for systemic drug absorption and elimination.

Toxicology

The study of poisons, their actions, their detection, and the treatment of the conditions produced by them.

Wholesaler

Means and includes every person who acts as merchant, broker, or agent, who sells or distributes for resale pharmaceuticals, proprietary medicines or pharmaceutical specialties.