GPs adopted one of three strategies when patients discussed their use of self-treatment. The first strategy was to suggest that patients continue with the treatment they reported using. This is illustrated in the examples above. These cases mainly involved patients using treatments such as paracetamol for colds. The remedies may be prescribed from within the professional sector and are being used in ways which are perceived to be appropriate and medically legitimate. This strategy validates patients’ use of self-treatment by presenting the use of the treatment as legitimate. The second strategy involved GPs suggesting that people continued with the OTC remedy they were using and supplemented this with a prescription. This was common when antibiotics were prescribed. This vali- dates the action the patient has taken and presents the OTC treatment as legitimate, while giving the message that the prescribed medicine is not supposed to replace the OTC remedy. In the third strategy GPs prescribed alternatives to the remedies being used. In one case this was explained in terms of replacing an OTC painkiller with a prescribed painkiller which would be more effective. However, in the following example the doctor suggested changing the treatment, but did not explain the rationale supporting his advice. The patient had tried a number of throat lozenges, and said in the interview with the researcher: