re: Chief Baw of FDA says everything should be OTC

Posted by Everyday Is Saturday

Member since Dec 2025

1532 posts

Posted on 2/18/26 at 10:10 am to WaydownSouth

quote:
I agree. Do away with PBMs and pharmacy prescription insurance. Everything except narcotics OTC and cash price.

Increase supply!
- Then eradicate 'patent extension' (my words) games (corruption) that big pharma uses controls supply for too long.

Decrease demand!
- All that advertising for big pharma should be incentivized for R&D (ie, solving problems) and not creating demand (ie, pharma bonuses / price increases).

Posted by HouseMom

Member since Jun 2020

1933 posts

Posted on 2/18/26 at 10:10 am to Hoops

quote:
There’s no script involved with OTC?

I was meaning more of a "behind the counter" but that could be given by a pharmacist. Currently Xofluza has to be prescribed by a doctor first.

Posted by Hoops

Member since Jan 2013

8249 posts

Posted on 2/18/26 at 10:11 am to HouseMom

Got it

Posted by Woolfpack

Member since Jun 2021

1726 posts

Posted on 2/18/26 at 10:34 am to WaydownSouth

9 times out of 10 you can get what you need OTC if you ask the pharmacist what will help with whatever issue you are having.

Ive never experienced one that seemed to mind answering a few questions and suggesting an OTC product.

Add in sites like web md and now AI and most conditions probably shouldn’t require a doctor visit.

I’d think it would be a step towards reducing medical expenses for the average person.

Posted by awestruck

Member since Jan 2015

14599 posts

Posted on 2/18/26 at 10:34 am to WaydownSouth

No prescript Viagra, over the counter medical marijuana, half taken dose's of antibiotics, what's my dosage for Ivermectin...

Pharmacists do more to insure proper medication than many a doctor....

... here recently: your listed as having a penicillin allergy and your doctor has prescribed AND we'll call your doctor this is not the standard dosage (and they were right)

Like with most things there's both good and bad. And this would put a lot more emphasis on having a good (and not just cheapest) pharmacist.

This post was edited on 2/18/26 at 10:54 am

Posted by tonydtigr

Beautiful Downtown Glenn Springs,Tx

Member since Nov 2011

6695 posts

Posted on 2/18/26 at 10:39 am to CoachChappy

quote:
We need to get the pharma commercials off tv

How else is big pharma going to pay off the networks to not investigate their questionable practices?

Posted by WaydownSouth

Stratton Oakmont

Member since Nov 2018

11149 posts

Posted on 2/18/26 at 10:43 am to Lawyered

quote:
I mean you can’t have blood pressure meds out there, people will take way too many and mix and match The safer stuff is already OTC anyway like for GERD.

Blood pressure meds could easily be behind the counter like insulin and not require prescriptions

Posted by UltimaParadox

North Carolina

Member since Nov 2008

52525 posts

Posted on 2/18/26 at 10:48 am to WaydownSouth

Sounds exactly like what have today

Posted by Bigdawgb

Member since Oct 2023

4190 posts

Posted on 2/18/26 at 10:56 am to CoachChappy

quote:
We need to get the pharma commercials off tv

Apparently marketers don't even know if ads work anymore, they just don't have any better alternatives.

Imagine taking just 10% of the money currently spent shoving ads (of any kind) down our throats, and instead spending it on public projects. Would be an incredible win for customers & for companies with all the goodwill they'd earn.

Posted by WG_Dawg

Member since Jun 2004

90313 posts

Posted on 2/18/26 at 11:01 am to WaydownSouth

quote:
everything should be over-the-counter

quote:
unless a drug is unsafe, addictive

Posted by lsu777

Lake Charles

Member since Jan 2004

38031 posts

Posted on 2/18/26 at 11:01 am to Hoops

quote:
Didn’t like your primary telling you to drink more water, eat more fiber and exercise?

quite the opposite

Posted by Harry Caray

Denial

Member since Aug 2009

21045 posts

Posted on 2/18/26 at 11:03 am to CoachChappy

quote:
We need to get the pharma commercials off tv

Delirium and sleep deprivation had me singing the skyrizi jingle to get my newborn to sleep. Funny but definitely a little dystopian in hindsight

Posted by tigerfoot

Alexandria

Member since Sep 2006

61432 posts

Posted on 2/18/26 at 11:04 am to WaydownSouth

Please. No one is abusing my bp pill.

Posted by EphesianArmor

Member since Mar 2025

4839 posts

Posted on 2/18/26 at 11:05 am to Hoops

quote:
There’s no script involved with OTC?

If so, Walgreens and CVS pharmacy will be in shambles.

Posted by DavidTheGnome

Monroe

Member since Apr 2015

31528 posts

Posted on 2/18/26 at 11:13 am to Lonnie Utah

quote:
However, it's the drug interactions I'm more worried about. Take pill X and mix it will pill Y and it will mess you up. The average person would have trouble sorting that out...

This. Just because a pill is safe on its own doesn’t mean it would be combined with other medications or other factors in general. What’s safe for one is unsafe for another. And we don’t need a country of people becoming their own doctors prescribing whatever the internet tells them

Posted by SixthAndBarone

Member since Jan 2019

11151 posts

Posted on 2/18/26 at 11:14 am to WaydownSouth

quote:
unless a drug is unsafe

Bingo.

Posted by bulletprooftiger

Member since Aug 2006

2477 posts

Posted on 2/18/26 at 11:34 am to CoachChappy

If everything is OTC, there will be more, not less, pharmaceutical commercials on TV.

This is, of course, stupid. Medications that might not be dangerous by themselves can be dangerous when combined with other medications. Dosing is also important. This could also increase the cost of medications because lay people could seek medication for conditions they do not have.
Trained professionals are necessary to monitor these things.