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Every time a doctor has "written me a prescription" for an OTC, it's always been just a note to me to actually get it. They never bother to send it to the pharmacist, and I end up being just another nameless person to the pharmacist buying another pack of Tylenol.

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To be fair, the quoted piece doesn't say "write a prescription for ibuprofen". It says doctors "prescribe ibuprofen". The former implies an actual written prescription you might give to a pharmacist, the latter is more ambiguous and can mean that the doctor told you to take ibuprofen. As in: "For my cold, the doctor prescribed plenty of rest and fluids".

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