When was the last time you hit the pharmacy or the pharmacy department at a Grocery store to buy an over-the-counter medication? Over-the-counter medications are drugs that you can purchase without a prescription to take care of itches, aches and pains and a few actually can help prevent disease.
More and more, Americans are leaning into the Internet and AI to help them decide whether or not they need an over-the-counter medication and what kind to get.
According to onlineabsn.marian.edu,
‘ Whether it is an allergy flare-up, an upset stomach, a headache, or a persistent cough, many Americans turn to over-the-counter medications to manage common symptoms. These products may be available without a prescription, but people can still have questions about what they contain, how they should be used, and whether they are appropriate for a particular situation. Search behavior offers one way to understand which medications are generating the most interest across the country.’
Researchers at Marion University did a study of Google searches for basic over the counter medicines across the country, and they came up with some interesting data.
Most searched over the counter meds.
In the research, they separated the search into two different categories of medicines…