Summary: For the average patient, distinguishing medicines from non-medicines is a big challenge. Even physicians, pharmacists and representatives of other professions related to medicine have a problem with it. A tablet or a capsule may be the form of both drugs and non-drug preparations, such as dietary supplements, medical devices and dietary foods for special medical purposes. The study was conducted to characterize the differences between formulations with medicinal product status, dietary supplement and dietetic food for special medical purposes. It turned out that products containing calcium carbonate differ not only in their legal status but also in the technological construction of the unit dosage form, which may be important for the effectiveness of pharmacotherapy and supplementation.