Seems that a lot of meds could be sold over the counter. Are Mexicans and Indians just smarter than Americans? They can buy over the counter medicines and don't seem to be dying..
They could, totally. My dad is sometimes prescribes 800 mg ibuprofin. Which is the same as taking 4 ibuprofin pills - you can buy a bottle of 500 pills for $15 or so. You can argue whether someone SHOULD take that many, but why is this a prescription item? After a few cavities , my dentist gave me "stronger" toothpaste that I needed a script for. Who knows what was in that, but its still ridiculous.
South America, at least some years ago, you could walk into a pharmacy for common stuff and talk with a person, get prescribed basic stuff cheap, have it dispensed, pay and walk out satisfied in less than 20 minutes. If you were suffering from something serious or for too long, they'd send you to the regular doc or the hospital. They've centralized a lot since then, and insurance companies moved in...
Seems that a lot of meds could be sold over the counter. Are Mexicans and Indians just smarter than Americans
I think a major factor in this is the combination you get when a large segment of the population a) has no common sense and b) are sue happy.
I think much of it is companies trying to prevent getting sued when idiots take medications the wrong way. If Tylenol and aspirin hadn't been invented before all these laws were written they would absolutely be by prescription only. There are thousands of idiots each year that destroy their livers by popping Tylenol tablets like they're tic tacs.
It's the same reason we have warning labels on curling irons and hair dryers to not use them while sleeping.
Seems that a lot of meds could be sold over the counter. Are Mexicans and Indians just smarter than Americans? They can buy over the counter medicines and don't seem to be dying..
...and for a lot less money....
They could, totally. My dad is sometimes prescribes 800 mg ibuprofin. Which is the same as taking 4 ibuprofin pills - you can buy a bottle of 500 pills for $15 or so. You can argue whether someone SHOULD take that many, but why is this a prescription item? After a few cavities , my dentist gave me "stronger" toothpaste that I needed a script for. Who knows what was in that, but its still ridiculous.
South America, at least some years ago, you could walk into a pharmacy for common stuff and talk with a person, get prescribed basic stuff cheap, have it dispensed, pay and walk out satisfied in less than 20 minutes. If you were suffering from something serious or for too long, they'd send you to the regular doc or the hospital. They've centralized a lot since then, and insurance companies moved in...
I think a major factor in this is the combination you get when a large segment of the population a) has no common sense and b) are sue happy.
I think much of it is companies trying to prevent getting sued when idiots take medications the wrong way. If Tylenol and aspirin hadn't been invented before all these laws were written they would absolutely be by prescription only. There are thousands of idiots each year that destroy their livers by popping Tylenol tablets like they're tic tacs.
It's the same reason we have warning labels on curling irons and hair dryers to not use them while sleeping.