behind-the-counter

behind-the-counter

In a pharmacy, not requiring a prescription but requiring a pharmacist's discretion to purchase, as of drugs or medical devices. Please be aware that all behind-the-counter purchases require identification so the pharmacist can verify your age before purchase.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.
See also:
  • over the counter
  • lemon law
  • revolving door
  • the revolving door
  • for free
  • get (something) down to a science
  • have (something) down to a science
  • have/get something down to a science
  • down cold, have
  • have/get (something) down pat
References in periodicals archive
Subtle behind-the-counter screening speeds small airport's process.
Provinces and territories will now have to decide whether to leave the pills as a behind-the-counter drug or whether to go one step further, allowing pharmacies to put them on the shelf for totally unrestricted sale.
However, if the TSA sticks with its plan, which Barker has already approved as adequate, the airport could agree to pay the entire cost of the behind-the-counter layout to get what it wants.
The FDA reps asked whether the access problem would be solved by an age restriction or the creation of a third class of pharmaceutical distribution, such as the behind-the-counter status used in Canada and the United Kingdom.
WASHINGTON -- The Food and Drug Administration has no immediate plans to seek establishment of a new, behind-the-counter class of drugs, officials said at a meeting on the topic in November.
The agency decided to take another look at BTC (behind-the-counter) drugs because consumers increasingly are involved in their own health care and frequently use the Internet not just to access information, but also to buy products without a physician's advice or counsel, Dr.
Several panelists in the FDA statin hearings said they wouldn't vote for over-the-counter access but would happily go for a behind-the-counter option if one were available.
In the absence of any evidence that behind-the-counter screening increases consumer caution, some doctors see this option as little more than a way to make skittish regulators more comfortable with the transition to over-the-counter status.
And while the behind-the-counter trend seems to be moving toward easier access, it can also lurch backward.