I'd agree that drugs with almost no overdose risk are stupid to put behind a prescription, but a lot of prescription drugs are dangerous and are only used becau

I'd agree that drugs with almost no overdose risk are stupid to put behind a prescription, but a lot of prescription drugs are dangerous and are only used because the status quo is worse. Even metformin has side effects - you really shouldn't be taking it if you don't need it, and you professionally cannot know if you do. And doctors want annual / quarterly renewals on prescriptions to check if your condition has gotten better or worse in regards to whatever the drugs were treating. Because at the end of the day, if you overdose on something, someone will still call 911, an ambulance will still come haul you to the hospital, and doctors will still spend millions of dollars trying to save your life if they deem it feasible regardless of if you can afford it or not. Unless you have an explicit will saying not to do that. And when you cannot pay your million dollar hospital stay (and the uninsured cannot) the hospital gets to write off the loss and seek recompense from the government anyway. And from the governments perspective, around the world, it is simply cheaper to provide regular and preventative care than to deal with the astronomical higher rate of emergency care people have to get in the US because they cannot afford the cheap routine stuff and instead cost the state life saving procedures instead.