Necessary, optional, and undesirable drug products

The distinction between necessary and optional drugs depends on national policies of drug regulation, economics of the health care system, and traditions of competition and freedom of choice for physicians and patients. The World Health Organization (WHO) calls drugs that are basic to the medical needs of a country "Essential Drugs," but more developed countries go beyond this category and expand the therapeutic armamentarium to include at least some optional drugs. However, financial considerations, including government payment, may keep the spectrum of choice narrow. Generic copies, while not optional therapeutic copies, stimulate free market competition in other countries. Undesirable drugs are easier to categorize. They are unsafe, ineffective, improperly manufactured or packaged, impure, subpotent, or falsely or misleadingly labeled. Once a country determines its policies for necessary and optional drug products, it is essential that criteria to prevent the marketing of undesirable drugs be maintained.