D. C. Sessions wrote:
> In message <Lzthk.2126$ue.1115@fe089.usenetserver.com>, vernono wrote:
>
>> Prescription is prescription because someone has proven dangers.
>
> Prescription is the default. It's not necessary to
> prove "dangers," it's necessary to prove safety. Thus
> the rather involved process of taking a drug OTC.
>
It is not only about safety, really. It's about money as well:
to keep prices up.
Claritin (loratadine) was a prescription drug, and obscenely expensive
in the USA. One could in fact get a bus trip from New York to Canada,
buy Claritin there and save money in the process. Then the patent
expired in 2002, and Claritin went OTC. According to
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claritin,
*** quote ***
Although an FDA advisory panel ruled that Loratadine was SAFE enough to
be sold over the counter, Schering OPPOSED such a decision on the
grounds that it would REDUCE THE PRICE that could be charged for the
drug. The drug continued to be available only by prescription in the
U.S. until it went off patent in 2002. It was then immediately approved
for over-the-counter sales. Once it became an unpatented
over-the-counter drug, the price dropped precipitously, and insurance
companies no longer paid for it.
*** end of quote ***
(capitals mine)
Loratadine was something like $12 for 60 tablets in Target.
I changed the topic because the original topic does not apply here.
