Prescription
Origin
Partly from Middle English prescripcion establishment of a claim, from Anglo-French, from Late Latin praescription-, praescriptio, from Latin, act of writing at the beginning, order, limitation of subject matter, from praescribere; partly from Latin praescription-, praescriptio order. The wider medical sense ‘instruction or recommendation of treatment by a doctor’ is apparently not paralleled in French until later (1750 or earlier)), thing which is prescribed, rule, precept (1588) and its etymon classical Latin praescrīptiōn- , praescrīptiō written prefix, preamble, title, pretext, excuse, precept, rule, limiting regulation, limitation, (in law) preliminary clause or preamble defining the scope of a lawsuit, preliminary limiting device or objection.
Definitions
- 1a : the establishment of a claim of title to something under common law usually by use and enjoyment for a period fixed by statute.
- b : the right or title acquired under common law by such possession
- 2: the process of making claim to something by long use and enjoyment
- 3: the action of laying down authoritative rules or directions
- 4a : a written direction for a therapeutic or corrective agent; specifically : one for the preparation and use of a medicine
- b : a prescribed medicine
- c : something (as a recommendation) resembling a doctor's prescription <prescriptions for economic recovery>
- b : a claim founded upon ancient custom or long continued use
- 6: something prescribed as a rule
Description
A prescription (℞) is a health-care program implemented by a physician or other medical practitioner in the form of instructions that govern the plan of care for an individual patient. Prescriptions may include orders to be performed by a patient, caretaker, nurse, pharmacist or other therapist. Commonly, the term prescription is used to mean an order to take certain medications. Prescriptions have legal implications, as they may indicate that the prescriber takes responsibility for the clinical care of the patient and in particular for monitoring efficacy and safety. As medications have increasingly become pre–packaged manufactured products and medical practice has become more complex, the scope of meaning of the term "prescription" has broadened to also include clinical assessments, laboratory tests, and imaging studies relevant to optimizing the safety or efficacy of medical treatment.[1]
