Prescription Drugs, Without The Doctor?

(CBS)  Call it cutting out the middleman - except the middleman is your doctor.

The idea: allow some prescription drugs to be sold without a prescription, provided pharmacists like Cheri Garvin, the CEO of Leesburg Pharmacy, who CBS News transportation and consumer safety correspondent Nancy Cordes spoke with, perform a quick consultation.

"I would say it's medications that are fairly safe," Garvin said. "They have a good safety profile, but could be more effective and safer if there is an interaction with a pharmacist."

The idea is in such early stages the FDA hasn't even said which drugs would fall into this new category.

At today's public meeting, witnesses focused on vaccines and cholesterol-lowering statins.

And though behind-the-counter drugs exist in Europe, some doctors here are skeptical.

"Pharmacists simply do not have the necessary education and training to perform these clinical functions," said Joseph Cranston of the American Medical Association.

Consumer Advocate Dr. Sidney Wolfe says the only U.S. study of countries that do allow "behind-the-counter" drugs found pharmacists didn't always provide comprehensive advice.

"We need much more evidence from places that have had this program for a long time before embarking on it in the United States," Wolfe said.

But pharmacists in Britain say the system saves time.

"It's easier for the patient if they run out of their medicine," U.K. pharmacist Thamer Auf said.

And Garvin argues it's just an extension of what she's doing already.

Still there are many unanswered questions. Would "behind-the-counter" drugs be covered by insurance? Would pharmacists get paid more?

Most importantly, does Congress even want to bother creating an entirely new class of drugs?

[eggy1620]

Baileycc, herbals & supplements differ from meds only through the fact that naturals are NOT MEASURED.

[cogger2]

Jusdane, haven%u2019t you read any news in the past 50 years: The Congress isn%u2019t in bed with the Pharmaceutical companies; they%u2019re in bed with the AMA. The AMA doesn%u2019t have to compete with itself.... Also, NO country can %u201Cactually "Cure" ailments without drugs ". Not even China.. All countries have alternative medicines, including the U.S... Pharmacies are going to get the same money if you buy the medicine straight out or if you hand over a doctor%u2019s note first and then buy the medicine. It%u2019s just that the doctor got his cut of your money first, and it was a huge cut, and it was preceded by hearing the exact same diagnosis you%u2019d heard 30 times before. The exact same speech you%u2019ll have to hear countless times in the future because Congress and the AMA are in bed together.

[jusdane]

Big Government at it''s best. It''s criminal that Congress is in bed with the Pharmaceutical companies making it easier to get drugs (making them more money) while poisoning those who take them. No side effects are safe, the Pharm companies and the FDA know it, but only want us more sick so they can make more money. Why is it other countries actually "Cure" ailments without drugs" Because they''re interested in curing, not making money on the drugs.

[lindaledbett]

Interesting. I live in Costa Rica where any adult can buy almost any drug at a pharmacy without a prescription. Some drugs are, of course, restricted but most are not. In the U.S., I always resented not being allowed to make these decisions for myself and those doctor visits really add to the cost. I can read. I can search for information about drugs. It should be my choice.

[doggone23]

People tend to forget that the cost of prescription medicine isn''t just the $40-$50 that the pharmacist charges. It also includes the $200-$400 that the redundant visit to a doctor costs. After the first doctor''s visit, or two, a person who has had a tendency to get an annoying sinus headache every-so-often, for the last 40 years, learned long ago what medicine is needed. The requirement for REPEATED visits to the doctor is just to put more and more and more money into the doctor''s pocket.
Concerning BTC: is the US really right and the whole rest of the world wrong.? What the rest of the world has learned is that a patient doesn%u2019t need to hear the same diagnosis over-and-over-and-over-and-over again. What the rest of the world has learned is to simply have a person go get the medicine he already knows he needs.
Every single person opposed to the BTC proposal has an insurance policy that pays for any and all superfluous costs. Let all these Prima Donnas go without insurance for a year or two and they''d quickly realize how dumb our present U.S. medical system is. They%u2019d learn the hard way how much unnecessary expensive slop and fat there is in our medical system. The rest of the world isn%u2019t wrong; they just got their act together..!!

[tucano2]

More Mexicanization of America. Who wants that?

[victjuli]

You must be a pharmacy tech, you''re generalizations are worse than mine. Here in the real world, docs are more up to date on meds, pharmacists are rarely consulted in the hospital, are often travelers from another country. Docs know more about side effects and contraindications. Pharmacist''s usually only call when they can''t read my writing, or I''m writing for something they''re not used to pouring in the bottle.

[victjuli]

Natural products are snake oil. Sold for profit, they do not help anything.
Nobody wants to hear, everything in moderation. A good diet and exercise. That''s the best you can do. We''re all going to die anyway.

[baileyccc]

The more I think about this I wonder "Who will stop the Insanity"? Drugs are not the answer, natural products are the answer. These poisons leads to an early death.

[victjuli]

Doctor''s don''t have the time to tell patients everything, but they are doing a lot of thinking when you see them, and when they write your prescription.

Most of the time patients don''t want to hear what the doc has to say.

Pharmacist''s don''t know any more about prescribing, than a super market checker knows how to cook.