41–50 of 308 posts
Similar to this idea, the province of Alberta in Canada allows pharmacists to write prescriptions for patients with only the only limit that they can't prescribe controlled substances.
Similar to this idea, the province of Alberta in Canada allows pharmacists to write prescriptions for patients with only the only limit that they can't prescribe controlled substances.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Presumably only for trivial conditions id [ sic ] hope I'd hope not. I used to be asthmatic. At one point in my life, getting--and paying co-pay for--a doctor's appointment was not easy. There were nights when I weighed suffering a little longer against the risk of triggering an ER visit. Being able to go to a pharmacy to get albuterol would have made a tough time easier with minimal risk to anyone else.
Why are you no longer asthmatic? Did you move to a less polluted/better climate area? Change your diet? Something else?
This will be great for pharmaceutical profits, not so great for insurance premiums.
You have that 100% backwards. Insurance premiums will go down since OTC drugs are not covered by insurance. Pharmaceutical profits will also go down because people are much more price sensitive for OTC drugs, so they can't charge as much.
According to the article, these drugs won't be considered OTC, they still need a pharmacists approval. I don't know how that will affect coverage, if at all.
I don’t care if you want a free market, or you want socialized medicine, both are preferable to government-enforced racketeering.
Sounds like a way to mimic the success of over the counter medications like ibuprofen, whose prices have been slowly creeping up for years. Many of the major profitable blood pressure and statins are off patent, so the drug companies need to make more money. I’m sure this status will limit or eliminate insurance contributions, so now you’ll pay more for generic because 50 million individuals lack the buying power of…
https://www.walmart.com/search/?query=ibuprofen%20200mg%2050...
I have mixed feelings about this, especially considering the US is the only first world country where direct-to-consumer marketing is allowed for medications. Bypassing the prescription requirement is of course of significant value to drug companies, who expend quite a bit of resources to sway doctors with free lunches, conferences and soft persuasion tactics. Usually I welcome the freedom to chose but this doesn't i…
One of my friends has type I diabetes, in more than one times, she needed urgent visit/call to her doctors just to get the medicine she has being taken for years.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's not as great as you think for the pharmaceutical industry. They can't charge as much for OTC drugs because people won't pay for it. If the drug (or a similar in class competitor) is available OTC then they also can't charge as much via prescription. So both ways, prices go down.
Many times they still charge more for the prescription med still. Great example I just saw. We all know ibuprofen has been available as an OTC for a long time. Cheap to buy too, The one difference in this example, the one 800mg pill is less harsh on the stomach than taking 4 of the 200mg pills. Which is the reasoning usually for this type of prescription, that and convenience for the patient.
Insurance does not actually pay that much. Because of drug rebates (paid by the drug manufacturer), clawbacks, and Co-Pays, in total the drug manufacturer gets about the same as they would for the OTC drug.
See here: https://money.cnn.com/2018/05/07/news/economy/drug-prices-re... (and that article barely scratches the surface).
Destroying that entire money-network would be probably the #1 thing that could help US medical spending. And as much as people hate Trump, he's probably the only one with the actual ability, and desire to do something about it.
Other presidents have cared, but they were too risk adverse, Trump would be like "hmm, looks good - do it and let's see what happens". That kind of risk taking gets him in a lot of trouble, but it's why he was elected, and why he still has support despite the INCREDIBLY stupid things he says.
Yikes, my girlfriend is applying to med school as we speak. The medical industry is certainly a highly regulated, potentially overpriced service for decades now. When I see a headline like this, I have to seriously ask myself: "Is this when the bubble finally pops, or will it be status quo for another generation?"
Does your GF really want to rubber stamp things epipen Rxs? Once you have the allergy diagnosis, it generally doesn't go away. It's kind of like low tech automation.
Basically, the schools jack up the medical practitioners with hundreds of thousands in debt, and the practitioners will do absolutely whatever is required to pay it off and eek out a living :(