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12:54 Sep 15, 2011
Portuguese to English translations [PRO] Medical - Medical: Pharmaceuticals
Portuguese term or phrase:droga oficinal
Taken from Brazilian LEI No 10.742, DE 6 DE OUTUBRO DE 2003 on regulations for the pharmaceutical sector:
"Art. 3o Para efeitos desta Lei, são adotadas as seguintes definições:
I - farmácia - estabelecimento de manipulação de drogas magistrais e oficinais, de comércio de drogas, medicamentos, insumos farmacêuticos e correlatas, compreendendo o de dispensação e o de atendimento privativo de unidade hospitalar ou de qualquer outra equivalente de assistência médica, nos termos do inciso X do art. 4o da Lei n° 5.991, de 17 de dezembro de 1973;"
"Droga magistral" is translated as "magistral formula", but I cannot find a translation for "droga oficinal". As far as I can make out, it means a type of generic medicine that is prepared in a pharmacy (as opposed to in a factory) by or under the direction of a pharmacist, and it can be with or without a prescription but follows a national formulary.
Explanation: This is what I found:
"Officinal is a term applied in medicine to drugs, plants and herbs, which are sold in a chemist or druggist shop, and to medical preparations of such drugs, et cetera, as are made in accordance with the prescriptions authorized by a pharmacopoeia. Not to be confused with the word "official". The classical Latin officina meant a workshop, manufactory, laboratory, and in medieval Latin was applied to a general storeroom. It thus became applied to a shop where goods were sold rather than a place where things were made."
It's used here: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15627058 (US national library of medicine / National Institute of Health
Although I think that "officinal formula" would also be an acceptable solution, this is closer to the original text. Thanks to all of you for your answers. 4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer
The official Brazilian definition of "preparação oficinal" (no pun intended) actually goes further: it means an extemporaneously compounded preparation with compendial status (see Resolução RDC nº 96). It is thus a subset of "preparação magistral" (compounded drug).
If a plant name has "officinalis" [pronounced oh-fiss-ih-NAH-liss] as the specific epithet, you know that it's used for medicinal purposes. (Of course there are many other medicinal plants that do not have this epithet. It's used mainly to distinguish the plant from ornamental siblings.)
-------------------------------------------------- Note added at 25 mins (2011-09-15 13:19:30 GMT) --------------------------------------------------
"Officinal formula: any medicinal product which is prepared in a pharmacy in accordance with the prescriptions of a pharmacopoeia and is intended to be supplied directly to the patients served by the pharmacy in question." http://www.echamp.eu/fileadmin/user_upload/Regulation/Direct...
Explanation: This is what I found:
"Officinal is a term applied in medicine to drugs, plants and herbs, which are sold in a chemist or druggist shop, and to medical preparations of such drugs, et cetera, as are made in accordance with the prescriptions authorized by a pharmacopoeia. Not to be confused with the word "official". The classical Latin officina meant a workshop, manufactory, laboratory, and in medieval Latin was applied to a general storeroom. It thus became applied to a shop where goods were sold rather than a place where things were made."
It's used here: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15627058 (US national library of medicine / National Institute of Health
Fernando Nonohay United Kingdom Local time: 12:13 Works in field Native speaker of: Portuguese PRO pts in category: 4
Grading comment
Although I think that "officinal formula" would also be an acceptable solution, this is closer to the original text. Thanks to all of you for your answers.
The translation workplace 
peer agreement (net): +3
