MyHealth.Alberta.ca Network
MyHealth.Alberta.ca Network
  • Folic Acid
  • Healthy Mind & Body
    • Abuse
    • Food and Nutrition
    • Healthy Relationships
    • Immunization
    • Mental Health and Stress
    • Physical Activity
    • Sedentary Behaviour
    • Travel Safety
  • Alcohol, Tobacco and Cannabis
    • Alcohol
    • Tobacco
    • Cannabis
  • Other Substances
  • Age
  • Medicine Herbal Products & Supplements
  • Weight
  • Environmental Risks
    • Chemicals
    • Food Handling
    • Heat
    • Occupational Hazards
  • Seeing an Expert
    • Already Pregnant
    • Dental Health
    • Fertility
    • Genetic Risk
    • Health and Family History
    • STIs and Safer Sex Practices
  • Reproductive Life Plan
  • I’m Ready Home
I'm not Ready!
Ready or Not
My To-do List

When can prescription and over-the-counter (OTC) medicine be harmful?

Prescription medicine and over-the-counter (OTC) medicine can be harmful if not used as directed.

This can include:

  • taking medicine prescribed to someone else
  • taking the medicine to feel ‘high’ or intoxicated
  • taking a higher dose than prescribed or recommended
  • having more than one prescription for the same medicine

 

?
Alberta Health Services
  • About Us
  • Terms of Use / Privacy Statement
  • Healthy Parents, Healthy Children
  • Pregnancy Options
  • Contact us

We acknowledge that Alberta is the land of Treaty 6, Treaty 7, and Treaty 8, and the home of eight Metis Settlements and the Métis Nation within Alberta. We recognize the many diverse First Nations, Métis, and Inuit people whose ancestors walked this land before us, and whose land we share today. We make this acknowledgment as an act of reconciliation and gratitude, and strive to work in partnership to build strong, positive, and healthy relationships.

Associated trade-marks and logos are trade-marks of their respective entities.

© 2025 Alberta Health Services. All rights reserved.