That might not be a bad idea. In theory, a prescription means that a doctor who has an intimate knowledge of the patient's health works with the patient to make a carefully-considered mutual decision about medication.

In practice, much of the time the process is just a formality which imposes a huge time and financial cost on some patients as well as reducing the time the doctor has for patients who really need more attention. In the past, when access to information was more difficult, this might have been necessary.

In the modern world, a simple automated flowchart on a pharmacy website or in-store terminal can do as good a job selecting appropriate medications, avoiding drug interactions, screening for side effects, and informing patients how to take the drug correctly than a doctor. Of course, not every condition can be treated by merely dispensing pills, nor is this appropriate for medications that require more in-depth monitoring or have severe public health consequences.

Advertising drugs should probably be more restricted than it is now to put such a system in place.