Durham-Humphrey Act

Durham-Humphrey Act This law made the first distinction between prescription and nonprescription drugs. As a result, many medications could only be obtained through a physician s prescription. 

Durham-Humphrey Act of 1952 Vested in the FDA the power to determine which products could be sold without prescription. 

Durham-Humphrey Act(1952) - This amendment defined specific drugs which may be supplied by a licensed pharmacist upon the prescription by a registered physician. Under this act these drug prescriptions may not be refilled unless authorized by the physician. 

With the decreased need for compounded medications and the passage of the Durham-Humphrey Act of 1951, the practice of pharmacy had entered... 

The 1952 Durham-Humphrey Amendment to the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act ... 

The 1952 Durham-Humphrey Amendment of the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act was passed to categorize medication into those medications that require direct supervision by a medical practitioner, called Legend Medication, and those that did not require direct supervision, called over-the-counter medication. 

DURHAM-HUMPHREY AMENDMENT TO THE FOOD, DRUG AND COSMEnC ACT... 

Until 1952, anyone could distribute dmgs. With the passage of the Durham-Humphrey amendment to the Food, Dmg and Cosmetic Act of 1938, a group of drugs was defined that could only be purchased if the patient had a prescription from a licensed practitioner. 

The other major piece of legislation in the 1950s was the Durham-Humphrey Amendment to the FD C Act. Humphrey (unsuccessful Presidential candidate and later Vice-President) had been a pharmacist he wanted to clarify what should and should not be an OTC drug. Hitherto, the only reason to get a prescription from a physician, and have it filled by a pharmacist, was because the patient did not know of an OTC drug to meet his/ her need, and the prescription was one which needed to be compounded by a professional. The Amendment provided, perhaps artificially, that when a disease or a drug side effect needed a physician s attention, then any treatment required a prescription, and that only a licensed pharmacist... 

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