3 ms·
Why is insulin not an over the counter medicine? Would having it OTC cause problems on the scale of alcohol? What's the "value add" of having a doctor renew an
by rbobby 8y ago
Why is insulin not an over the counter medicine? Would having it OTC cause problems on the scale of alcohol? What's the "value add" of having a doctor renew an insulin prescription?
- rhema 8y agoProbably because its a serious drug that impacts metabolism in unsafe ways. I think it can also be abused as a component of extreme muscle building drugs.
- syn0byte 8y agoThe number of unexplained but apparently natural heart attacks in middle aged people with disgruntled partners would sky rocket. Weight trainers can and probably already do (ab)use insulin to maximize their gains by manipulating blood sugar levels during workouts. self-diagnosed and self-medicated diabetics showing up at hospitals that have no indication of this and pump them full of glucose.
- conanbatt 8y ago> The number of unexplained but apparently natural heart attacks in middle aged people with disgruntled partners would sky rocket. Are you saying that insulin has to be prescribed to prevent murder?
- maxerickson 8y agoI initially said "In many states it is available over the counter." A better response is that several older, more difficult to manage versions are available over the counter.
- dreamcompiler 8y agoFirst because overdosing on insulin is fatal. That's not unique to insulin; overdosing on Tylenol is fatal too, but with insulin you don't get any warning: With a slight OD you'll feel your brain get foggy and you can chew some candy to fix the problem, but with a big OD you just pass out and die. Second because the peculiarities of insurance often mean prescription drugs are cheaper to the patient than OTC drugs. Making insulin OTC might well make it more expensive.
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]