Aspirin (Acetylsalicylic Acid)

Known to the pharmacist as acetylsalicylic acid, aspirin is an over-the-counter anti-inflammatory and antipyretic drug that also possesses highly effective non-opiate analgesic properties. Derived originally in nature from the bark of willows, the Greek physician Hippocrates (as in the Hippocratic Oath) used a powder extract to treat pain and reduce fever in the Fifth Century BC.