"When many cures are offered for a disease, it means the disease is not curable" -Anton Chekhov
''Once you tell people there's a cure for something, the more likely they are to pressure doctors to prescribe it.'' -Robert Ehrlich, drug advertising executive.
"Opinions are like sphincters, everyone has one." - Chris Rangel
Proof in the Pudding: As predicted, now that Claritin is over-the-counter, many patients no longer want to use it. The over-the-counter version is cheaper for those who always had to pay for it out-of-pocket than the prescription version was, but those with drug benefits have seen the price increase from a $10 co-pay for thirty pills to $30, and they don't like it. The result?
Some patients find an antihistamine they haven't used for several years works again -- it's like the body recognizes it again, says Dr. Paul Ehrlich of New York University.
