Prescription drugs sold OTC coming to a pharmacy near you! Could happen if the FDA approves this.
I’m not really sure how I feel about this news. On the surface it sounds pretty good. Being able to get some of your meds OTC instead of having to having to pay for an office visit just get your subscriptions.
Who wouldn’t like to avoid that? But if you stop and think a minute, what are the real reasons behind this?
Surprise, surprise, I think I’m taking the pessimistic view on this one. I’m sure you’ve heard the old tried and (mostly) true adage “Follow The Money”, well think about
it…
If the drugs are available OTC, that means the Insurance companies no longer have to pay for them. The whole cost goes to the patient. Quite a big windfall for the insurance companies. I would think.
What about the drug companies? Wouldn’t they loose a lot of money if these drugs are sold OTC? Well, yes, but they may also stand to gain quite a bit from the folks that have been doing without because of the high cost and not having insurance.
And with all the drug commercials on TV convincing everyone that they have one disease or another, How many would start popping them pills? We’ve got a whole country full of drug commercial induced hypochondriacs. Probably a dollar or two to be gained in that.
I don’t know, tough call to make on that one. Again, follow the money. Look at the drug company’s lobbyist in DC. Are they working overtime against this or is it business as usual. That will tend to answer the question.
“The new industry-backed proposal is driven in part by a wave of computer technology, including touch-screen kiosks found in pharmacies, designed to help patients self-diagnose common diseases. Drug-makers could use electronic questionnaires, diagnostic devices like blood pressure monitors and other computer-assisted technology to guide patients.”
Interesting, don’t you think? Read the full article here.
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With 540 million blood cholesterol tests annually worldwide, it was just a matter of time before someone came up with a low-cost non-invasive cholesterol test. Well a Winnipeg medical diagnostic company, Miraculins Inc. has done just that. And believe it or not already has U.S. regulatory approval for patients considered at risk. It’s a skin test done in the palm of a hand. Now I don’t know about you but I am very interested in this. No more costly Dr. visits and blood test just to know your levels. With something like this you can stay up with managing your levels at home. Oh sure, maybe an annual Dr. visit but for the most part do it yourself. They expect the cost to run between $35 and $50. You can read the full article here.
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In the U.S., approximately 33 million adults are taking statin drugs. That doesn’t include the drug companies latest target, children.
Im pretty sure we all know that statins work mainly by reducing the liver’s ability to produce cholesterol by blocking an enzyme the body needs to create it. Which in turn helps lower the bad cholesterol level in your blood.
That’s all well and good. But are they really benefiting all those patients?
But what about the statin risks?
There is a lot of noise out there being paid to this issue; the problem is that much of it is false and misleading at best.
But if you look around, you’ll find some that help you make a better informed decision as to whether or not you should take them.
“If you have heart disease, or are at very high risk of heart disease with high cholesterol, statins are one of the best classes of drugs we ever had,”
The above is a quote from Steven Nissen, MD, chair of cardiovascular medicine at the Cleveland Clinic in a recent article on MedicineNet.com
I liked the tone of the article, especially as he admits that statins are not for everyone. While I pay close attention to nutrition and exercise, I personally am taking a statin drug and it is doing what it’s supposed to do without any obvious side-effects.
But that’s just me, we all need to make our own decisions.
You can check out Dr Nessen’s article here.
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