noun
medicine; pharmaceutical drugs; medical treatment
Formal or technical term covering medicines and pharmaceutical products, and by extension medicine or medical treatment. In everyday speech, 薬 is more common for an individual drug, and 医療 for medical care.
その企業はがん治療向けの医薬品を開発している。
The company is developing pharmaceuticals for cancer treatment.
医薬の進歩で、治
Advances in medicine have broadened the treatment options.
noun
medical practice and dispensing; medicine and pharmacy
Institutional use referring to the relationship or division between medical practice and the dispensing of drugs. Most familiar in fixed compounds such as 医薬分業.
医薬分業が進み、処方箋を持って薬局へ行く人が増えた。
As the separation of medical practice and dispensing has advanced, more people now take prescriptions to pharmacies.
Refers broadly to medical care and healthcare services, while 医薬 focuses more on medicines, pharmaceuticals, or the medicine-pharmacy relationship.
Sino-Japanese compound of 医, associated with medicine or medical practice, and 薬, meaning medicine or drug. The spelling transparently reflects the medical and pharmaceutical meanings.