nUSEweb.com

> D. C. Sessions wrote:
>
> 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.