ibuprofen is not a prescription medicine, it's over the counter. you can get 2 packs x 500 in costco in the US. (source)
I thought we were talking about the UK? Why does it matter whether it's prescription in the US?
rubbing alcohol (when i was there at least) was not readily available, i think the govt regulated it because they didn't want people to get drunk or something.
I'd need to see a source, this seems like wild speculation. Seems pretty unlikely that they banned it and lifted the ban without this being front and centre when looking it up. Couldn't it have been the whole COVID craze which just meant it was sold out?