|
medpundit |
||
 |
 |
|
Thursday, July 10, 2003The direct costs to patients for allergy medications Allegra and Zyrtec will rise precipitously if the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approves the change from prescription to over-the-counter status requested by WellPoint Health Networks, a major managed healthcare company. Health insurers would be granted an annual windfall that could exceed three-quarters of a billion dollars from the change. No suprise there. Insurance plans don't cover over-the-counter drugs. That's why they lobby the FDA to make expensive, popular symptom-treating drugs over-the-counter. Drugs like the non-sedating antihistamines, and the proton pump inhibitors like Prilosec which are increasingly used, not for recalcitrant ulcers or acid reflux, but for indigestion . You can't really blame them. The drugs appear to be safer than a lot of the other medications that are already available over-the-counter for allergies and indigestion, and quite frankly their popularity is due in large part to successful direct-to-consumer advertising by drug companies, the power of which should never be under-estimated. posted by Sydney on 7/10/2003 11:39:00 AM 0 comments 0 Comments: |
|
