Self-prescribing Patients?

Self-prescribing Patients?

the-scientist.com

The FDA considers making some drugs for diabetes, asthma, and other ailments available over the counter.

A new proposal being considered by regulators at the US Food and Drug Administration could eliminate the need for a prescription for a number of widely-used drugs, including those for diabetes, asthma, and migraines.

FDA officials say that thanks to new computer technologies such as touch-screen kiosks that allow patients to self-diagnose certain diseases, removing prescription requirements

(visit the link for the full news article)



Related AboveTopSecret.com Discussion Threads:
De-risking Diabetes Drug Development

Let's get something straight right out front: This is NOT about helping people who can't afford medical care. This will boost Big Pharma's profits.

Most blockbuster money-makers have gone off patent, and the rest aren't far behind - HUGE loss of revenue. On top of that, great strides are being made towards making "personalized medicine" a reality. Another hard kick in the nuts for Big Pharma.

De-risking Diabetes Drug Development

“Diabetes in humans is complex and we are losing the war with this complexity. Much of drug development in Type II Diabetes, T2D, is in limbo, due to the inability to predict clinical benefit or risk from targeted interventions,” ...“The future of T2D medicines development will belong to those who understand the pathogenesis of this disease in its various forms in human populations, not necessarily to those with the best targets and chemistry.”

So. Are we here to protect Big Pharma at the expense of public health? Or are we here to protect public health from Big Pharma's poisons and machinations?

Time to speak out and be heard.












the-scientist.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

It's a little off topic, but I've never liked the way the drug companies advertise their medicine on the television.

If I have a health problem, I trust my doctor to decide what medication I need. I certainly don't go to the doc with a "shopping list" of new drugs to try.

Something about advertising drugs has always bothered me.

As for getting the products over the counter, usually generics are released at the same time or shortly after. So if the generic form is available, I'm all for it.

Even if the medicine is over the counter, your doc can still write a prescription so that your insurance covers it, or so that you don't have to pay tax.

Great thread. S&F!

There are two sides to every coin. Or Pill.

I see this as another attack on physicians. Or it is to aide the uninsured?

Look at it this way, when a patient needs a script for drugs, they usually have to go an make an appointment with a physician. Therefore the physician either gets to bill for another doctor's visit, or the patient has to pay to go to an urgent care to get a script.

What if a patient cannot afford numurous doctor's visits? What if the Major Insurance companies lobbied for this cause they were tired of paying for needless doctor's visits just to get the drugs they need?

I think this is less about the pharmacutical companies and more about the insurance companies.

People aren't going to buy more diabetes medicine just cause they can get easier access to it. Same with asthma or migranes.

Just another strategic positioning from the big insurance companies to save a buck.



AAC

reply to post by soficrow


He, he, when I saw this news coming out I thought hell what a nice topic for ATS, but then something came along and I forgot about it.

When I heard this on TV a couple of days ago, I was flabbergasted, hell now we will have big pharma propaganda to get the hypochondriacs out there to believe that they need move crap over the counter for their "self diagnosed illnesses" and people will fall for it like flies

Is no enough to have the regular drugs been pushed by mass promotion to "find" the symptoms in the net before going to the doctor for the pill that you "need" but now you can get at the pharmacy all on you own.

I thought the government wanted to control over medication that is killing more Americans than anything else this days, but hell our corporate dictatorship that runs the government doesn't want any of that they just want to keep killing people for profits.

Incredible.

reply to post by smyleegrl


The only problem with this idea is that most doctors are not on the pulse of all the newst drugs that hit the market. This is why pharmacutical sales is such a big industry, they are required to go out an educate doctors on new drugs. Well, if you know the industry, doctors don't care about reps int heir office. Well, unless she a beautiful Blonde.

AAC

reply to post by AnAbsoluteCreation


You know you make a point perhaps this is a preview of what is to come after the Obamacare becomes enforced, with so many people that will be forced into mandate for health care but will not be able to used it due to the high cost of deductibles and out of pocket expenses, something that Obamacare has forgotten to tell the people they will be mandating into health care.

reply to post by marg6043


Could be.

2nd.

AAC

This has a big potential for problems. Some symptoms are vague and similar in many diseases. Only testing and seeing a patient can help to resolve nuances.

I am concerned people will diagnose themselves and treat the wrong disease. It would be easy to under or over treat a condition as well. Diabetes is particularly dangerous, and needs a Dr.'s guidance.

It could also place an extra burden on Pharmacists to try and guide people, something they are not qualified to do. If people even ask.

I don't understand why anyone would think this is a good idea, or who it would help. Except maybe as you suggest the drug companies.

sounds dangerous to self diagnose as quite often the symptoms can be rather generic and could be rather easy to kill off people or cause major complications due to mis diagnosis so i'd imagine once a few multi million dollar law suits have hit the courts the machines will be removed when the computer prescribes asprin for someone who's known to be allergic to asprin

reply to post by Iamschist


You are right , Is not a good idea, but America is a corporate dictatorship, meaning profits comes first safety later, then with more and more laws to strip you of rights to sue drug companies for their crap and mistakes we don't stand a chance if you are one of those that believe everything is wrong with them and a pill can make things better.

In my case I careless what they are offering over the counter because I will not take them anyway, but no everybody see it the same way.

Sad.

Most antihistamines are immune system depressants. Although I see good in this, I also see people may abuse them and wind up very sick. They should be regulated somehow or there could be big problems.

People should be required to go to a doctor for diabetes meds for about three months initially until any problems are worked out. Some of these diabetic drugs are only initially approved to get the patient on their feet and with diet changes they can get back to normal again. Then with some sort of a card they could get them semi over the counter without a prescription. Maybe the card should have a two year expiration so they have to get rechecked.

I think that the pharma companies are trying to stop pending government regulations concerning these things. I think that the government will be coming down on implementation of these things in the future, getting them to a buyer beware status allows sales to increase with less regulations.

I don't know what to think of this situation.

I don't trust most doctors. I self-diagnose now anyway....then decide if I need to go through the crap of having to see a doctor to write a scrip.

And although I don't trust bigPharma either...I'd rather be able to get certain drugs without a doctor having to write a scrip....they want you to come in, they want to run tests.....I know my body better than they do and know when I need to see a doctor.

The only negative I see is that OTC drugs are out-of-pocket and not covered by my insurance.

reply to post by soficrow


how does one " self diagnose " diabetes ? i am under the delusion that diagnosis requires a blood test

First, self-diagnosis can be kind of tricky. I've had a come-uppance or two when I was absoklutely sure what was wrong with me because it felt exactly like what was wrong before and a doctor had diagnosed X. I just assumed it was X again, but it was not. It was Y. So there's a bit of a problem right there.

Second, once you are established on a medication for something chronic, you don't always need yet another expensive doctor visit. You just call the office and say, "Look, I've run out of Travatan because the bottles are so damn small and I cannot possibly get a month out of them, so please fax a refill to the pharmacy and I'll come in for my regular appointment in a couple of months." They're very cooperative for something like that.

reply to post by DontTreadOnMe


I know exactly what you mean, since my last surgery last June, (emergency gallbladder removal due to obstruction) I went through a lot and all my doctor did was prescribe drugs like it was candy, about 9 different drugs due to my body going heck wild due to a combination of surgery stress and hormonal imbalance along with mineral depletion as I could not hold anything for weeks.

But as usual thats all doctors are good for, so when finally I started to feel like myself thanks to herbals, vitamins and a great acupuncturist, I decided that the next time I will see a doctor is because I am feeling like dying.

I ignored my 6 month required check up I hate pill pushers, I try anything natural until I had no other choice.

A lot of people go to school for 8 years...they're called doctors.
Let's leave the prescribing to them, shall we?

Well this is a bunch of bull# because they recently took my wife's asthma medicine off the counter and required you to have a prescription for it, for twice the price + doctor fees + gas + bull#. Self diagnosis or no self diagnosis, you don't need a doctor to tell you that you need a #ing asthma inhaler.

Some people actually need medicine to live and sleep normally. This is a money scheme and of course the geniuses out there are screaming about possible misdiagnosis don't have a damn clue about anything relevant and obviously aren't in any position to be stating any kind of opinion on the matter.

Some of this has been sold over the counter for a LONG, LONG time, they only recently pulled it. Now all the sudden people think its dangerous for asthma sufferers to use inhalers, they want them to pay out to big pharma so they don't "misdiagnose" themselves, what a joke. She's been rationing out the last one she bought through an individual as much as she can, before we have to just about give up our damn livelihood because the greedy take advantage of the ignorant.

That's what is sad. People hear the word "self-diagnose" and don't have a damn clue about what is actually happening. You know what's even more sad? It was "formally" done in the name of #ing environmentalism (mental being the key word there), with the idea that asthma inhalers somehow contribute to depleting the ozone layer. (I'm sure they do in your typical 0.000000001% fashion)

Read me: fda.gov

Haha, yea okay. BP gets credited with "cleaning up" it's own oil spill while asthma inhalers foot the bill for environmental damage and my wife suffers from it because she can't "diagnose" herself. What a #ing joke, another example of the government sticking its greedy paws into something and screwing it up for the almighty dollar. Turns out this one affects me personally, though I can't speak for any of the other medicines or illnesses.

So what are they going to do? Are they going to put primateen mist back on the shelf or what? There is some talk of a non-ozone depleting asthma inhaler (lol), but its more expensive, oh well golly gee go #ing figure.

I would say the title of that article and what it is trying to present is incredibly misleading. Not everyone has a "fake" illness, this is # people can die from and good ol' corporate America is basically holding people's lives for ransom.

If a person has diabetes or asthma they don't need a doctor continually telling them they do. These people know how to test their blood sugar or know when they have shortness of breath. The drugs they need are a regular part of their life and they just need regular access to them without sitting in a doctor's waiting room.

One thing Americans will always attempt to prescribe for everyone else is a nanny.

Originally posted by Erongaricuaro
If a person has diabetes or asthma they don't need a doctor continually telling them they do. These people know how to test their blood sugar or know when they have shortness of breath. The drugs they need are a regular part of their life and they just need regular access to them without sitting in a doctor's waiting room.

One thing Americans will always attempt to prescribe for everyone else is a nanny.

edit on 13-3-2012 by Erongaricuaro because: (no reason given)

This is quite an understatement of the importance of medical oversight. Chronic conditions, especially those like diabetes mellitus and asthma, require follow up and guidance from their physicians. Having diabetes is quite a bit more complicated than mere numbers and glucometer checks. Diabetes education, foot checks, eye exams and hemoglobin A1C are just a few of the regular checks that your physician performs. Additionally, with asthma, the disease can change and require a change of medications. It is also important patients receive education and guidance to avoid exacerbations and trigger events. Yeah, they still need to see their doctor.