Further Subtotal Dispensed Standard Therapeutics

[gompertzmakeham]

The subtotal of all community pharmacy dispensed non-criminal code scheduled therapeutics (not triple pads) currently combines everything including antibiotics and contraceptives. However contraceptives and antibiotics both in and of themselves represent very different prescribing regimens when compared to other standard therapeutics. Contraceptives because they are not treating a morbidity, and antibiotics because they are explicitly treating a (hopefully) transient infection. For these reasons the subtotal of standard therapeutics should actual be three subtotals:

• Antimicrobials explicitly prescribed to resolve an infection, according to ATC code.
• Contraceptives explicitly prescribed for birth control, according to ATC code.
• Diabetic treatments explicitly prescribed for diabetes, according to ATC code.
• All other standard therapeutics.

Which ATC codes are appropriate for delineating these subtotals requires further investigation.