Pharmacy Times OTC Recommendations Survey: Why It Matters

Every month, pharmacists make millions of recommendations from among the 1000+ OTC brands. The 2009 Pharmacy Times OTC Recommendations Survey asked thousands of pharmacists to declare their preferred recommendations on brands in 148 OTC categories. In the tables that follow, products are organized by category with the percentage of pharmacists’ recom-mendations that they received. The tables also show the total number of recommendations the retail pharmacy profession makes each month.

The Pharmacy Times OTC Master’s Circle is an elite club made up of those products from the OTC Recommendations Survey that earned at least 50% of pharmacists’ re-commendations. The OTC Master’s Circle features 52 products this year.

Scoring well in the Pharmacy Times OTC Recommendations Survey matters. Our readers thoughtfully consider the rec-ommendations of their peers—“Is that what I recommend?” “Should that be what I recommend?” And with billion-dollar block-buster prescription drugs switching to OTC status, pharmacists will be called on to guide patient choices like never before.

Product manufacturers are also very interested to see what products are at the top of their respective categories. Winners in the 2009 Pharmacy Times OTC Recommendations Survey—those products that received the highest percentage of pharmacist recommendations in their category— qualify to use the Pharmacy Times Achievement Award logo. And Master’s Circle win-ners—those that received 50% or more of all pharmacist recommendations in the category—qualify to use the OTC Master’s Circle Achievement Award logo. Winning brand managers are proud of this achievement, and these logos are frequently in-cluded in product advertising throughout the year.

Pharmacy Times is pleased to present this year’s OTC recommendations.