FDA proposes bypassing doctors, selling prescription drugs over the counter...

Unbreakable

Unbreakable

Bluelighter
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When it comes to freedom of food choice, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) considers Americans to be too stupid to make their own dietary choices. But when pharmaceuticals are involved, the FDA apparently thinks individuals should be able to completely self-medicate themselves without a prescription, having recently proposed new guidelines that would make it easier than ever for patients to access high-risk prescription drugs without even having to see a doctor.

The Washington Times reports that a new four-page proposal made by the FDA suggests that cholesterol (statins), diabetes, and asthma drugs, among others, be made available over-the-counter (OTC) to patients without a prescription. And what is the reason for this? According to the agency, too many patients are not getting their prescriptions filled, and many would-be patients are not going in to receive the treatments that their medical overlords feel they should be receiving.

The drug industry, in other words, is losing profits because many patients simply are not participating in the health care system as we know it. So to help boost participation, the drug industry's gatekeeper, the FDA, is working on behalf of Big Pharma to make prescription drugs as easy to access as a candy bar or a pack of gum, even though prescription drugs are typically extremely high-risk and come with severe side effects.

"The FDA has not offered any evidence establishing that it is safe, or patient outcomes are improved, when patients with hypertension, [high cholesterol], asthma or migraine headaches self-diagnose and manage these (or other) serious chronic medical conditions on their own," said Dr. Sandra Fryhofer, who testified on behalf of the American Medical Association (AMA) at an FDA-held public hearing recently.


Source: Interesting :)
http://www.naturalnews.com/035801_FDA_prescription_drugs_over_the_counter.html
 
The conditions they would allowpeople to self-medicate for would have to be carefully selected, of course, but this could work. It would put more of a load on pharmacists, but it could work out well. I wouldn't expect moderate to severe pain to be on that list of conditions, though. :\
 
lemme say i love this idea...

they should test it first making opiates no script access
 
What a biased article. It says that many people aren't able to get their medicine. And this article takes that to mean that people are rebelling against pharmaceuticals? I call bullshit, people can't get their medicine because our health care system is fucked and the economy is bad, people can't afford to go to the doctor to get a script, people can't afford to fill the script. It's an issue of money, not an issue of people deciding that somehow albuterol is bad to take.

I think that it's good, you can already buy adrenaline inhalers and other crap for asthma. You can buy insulin without a prescription for the same reason. Everyone deserve medical care, people shouldn't be risking dying of an asthma attack or diabetes or anything else just because they can't afford a doctor.

I like in most of Latin America that you can go to the pharmacy and get medicine without a prescription. When they add in requiring that you go to a doctor, it's the poor people who suffer. Why should I need to go to a doctor to get him to tell me I have asthma? Most people get diagnosed with such a condition as children, it makes no sense that they should have to go to the doctor for hundreds of dollars to get told that they still have asthma. When you have a system like that the end result is that when a poor person doesn't have the hundreds of dollars for the doctor and the pharmacy, they end up with their life at risk. It's not right.
 
oh they want ppl to self medicate now but just as long as its with big pharma and they all get paid.. lmfao what a joke.. ppl dont go to the medical system cuz they rarely do anything for you besides take your money, shit your lucky if they even listen to the words coming out of your mouth
 
paper planes said:
oh they want ppl to self medicate now but just as long as its with big pharma and they all get paid.. lmfao what a joke.. ppl dont go to the medical system cuz they rarely do anything for you besides take your money, shit your lucky if they even listen to the words coming out of your mouth
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I notice a lot of hostility on bluelight towards pharmaceuticals, doctors and the medical system. Our healthcare system is fucked, that's for sure, but a lot of these medicines are important, life saving things that people do need.

When you have severe asthma, diabetes or any other chronic disease, you go to the medical system to get a prescription that you absolutely need. These drugs should be available over the counter so that people don't have to pay exorbitant rates to get them.

People with asthma don't go to the doctor because they don't have money, not because they aren't going to get help from the doctor. If they do go to the doctor they receive the care they need.

I don't buy that people have lost faith in Western medicine and the medical system to the point that they don't go to the doctor when they need to. It just costs them a ton of money when they do, and many people end up suffering instead of going to the doctor because they have no money.

This proposal seems to me like it would take profits away from the healthcare industry because people who need these medicines wouldn't have to pay for doctors visits to get a script.

I don't see at all how this proposal is boosting the profits of big pharma. People with these ailments need their medicine, the only difference is that currently they have to pay out the ass for doctors and for behind the counter pharmaceuticals. Costs to the patients would be greatly decreased if they could simply buy the medicine they need OTC without having to pay for a doctor's visit on top of the meds.

Go to CVS or Wallgreens, and you will find that they do sell asthma inhalers OTC already, it's just that they are terrible adrenaline inhalers that ime make you feel awful. Why should albuterol inhalers require a prescription?
 
I like this. There are a lot of non-abuse drugs that should be at easier access to individuals. It is hard for alot of people to make it out to a doctor to pick up a prescription when they have to pay for the doctors appt, as well as the script, especially when most doctors hours are inaccessible to individuals working during the day. Having a variety of drugs available that can save the lives of individuals who would ordinarily not have access to them is a huge deal. hate big pharma or not, making the availability of certain drugs will save lives.

I hope they make narcan available OTC. Even though I get a methadone script every month, I'd still make sure I have a vial of narcan with my script.
 
I haven't bought any albuterol inhalers lately, but I often buy meds for myself & my pet online without a script. I am aware that a chance exists the meds I get could be fake, but I haven't had any trouble yet. BTW Avoid buying meds made in India frauds abound & I don't like the weird after effects some of my scripts have had that were made in crappy India.
 
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Cloudy said:
I like this. There are a lot of non-abuse drugs that should be at easier access to individuals. It is hard for alot of people to make it out to a doctor to pick up a prescription when they have to pay for the doctors appt, as well as the script, especially when most doctors hours are inaccessible to individuals working during the day. Having a variety of drugs available that can save the lives of individuals who would ordinarily not have access to them is a huge deal. hate big pharma or not, making the availability of certain drugs will save lives.

I hope they make narcan available OTC. Even though I get a methadone script every month, I'd still make sure I have a vial of narcan with my script.
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Amen on the narcan, talk about saving lives.

I know people who used to drive to Mexico to buy albuterol inhalers OTC because they couldn't afford to pay for the doctor and the meds in the states.

Making medicine available to people who need it isn't a big pharma conspiracy, it's a moral and practical measure that makes sense.
 
Let it happen. The few extreme junkies that haven't heard of moderation will die off soon enough.

Unbreakable said:
The Washington Times reports that a new four-page proposal made by the FDA suggests that cholesterol (statins), diabetes, and asthma drugs, among others, be made available over-the-counter (OTC)
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WTF is this supposed to say?
 
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I agree wholeheartedly about how big pharma operates, but you need to put this issue in perspective. A pharmacist is unlikely to prescribe an rx to someone who has no history of using this rx. The point of this proposal is to increase the efficiency with which regular prescriptions can be refilled. If you have been taking the same drug for 15 years, why would you go back to your doctor each time to get a refill of the same rx? It's a waste of medical resources, and the patient's money.

Pharmacists know more about the drugs than MDs do, and if there is an urgent situation I would rather be able to get a pharmacist's help than have to wait to see a doctor - assuming I even have access to one!
 
I am 100% positive thier is more to your statement then meets the eye, thier always is a bigger picture.
 
Controled Substance available over the counter

I wish they would make opiods and abuseable drugs over the counter with in moderation. That would be awesome for people sincerely in pain. I feel thier are more patients under medicated then over medicated, and I am referring to people truely in pain. The problem is some people don't have self control and over dose! Which is why people like me who really suffer from pain and have to go threw all these hoops with doctors to get enough help to half-way function. I am not knocking caughting a buse. I like a buzz just like the next person but over dosing is so unneccasary. Please you know your limits why chance passing them. Hurting society in general, it makes adults like me treated like a child being monitored and havinig medication Formulated. Its just not right!:!
 
I think the main impetus for this move is saving insurance companies/medicaid. Insurers don't have to pay for drugs if they are OTC, so why not make everything OTC? Though I'm not cool with that basic premise, I think you should be able to get whatever you want (barring antibiotics) without a script, though if you have a script insurance should cover it.
 
That is an interesting point, though a lot of the target audience for this I imagine is individuals with out a form of insurance in the first place. A lot of individuals don't get the prescriptions they need because they have to pay the full cost of a doctors visit, along with the full cost of the medication, making the endeavor one that many would rather not take. So if the medicines are available via OTC, the individuals who would take advantage of this change would actually save money.

I seriously don't think that this is aimed at most insured individuals as they are more likely to continue to see a doctor for check ups of their issues, and have access to even getting the doctor to fax or call in prescriptions. If an individual isn't seeing a doctor regularly for a health issue, they aren't likely to have the scripts faxed in, as they don't have a doctor over seeing their treatment.
 
That article was absurdly biased, though not surprising given where it's coming from.
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Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/035801_FDA_prescription_drugs_over_the_counter.html#ixzz1uRpyg6Nj
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What a fucking joke of a website.

I love how the supplement/'natural cure' industry always implies that pharmaceutical companies are just out to grab their money, when all they're doing is trying to make sure you spend that money on your fish oil and multivitamin and zinc pills instead.
 
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