The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 7 plus 6 letter word DOCTORS ORDERS
I've seen this crossword clue in The Times
D
O
C
T
O
R
S
O
R
D
E
R
S
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "eg keep taking the tablets" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case eg keep taking the tablets = doctors orders.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.