3 ms·

More like no one bothered to apply to make it OTC until a year ago. In the US there is more money to be made from selling prescription medication.

ghaff 3y ago
Generics at least aren't big moneymakers. With totally pedestrian insurance I pay next to nothing (or nothing) for the variety of meds that I take. Would probably cost more if I could buy them OTC.
- parasense 3y ago
  Given the 50 years, I'd say the original investment has paid off many times over, and all the generic brands got their cut. It's more than fair to society to allow the medicine to go over the counter.
  - ghaff 3y ago
    Oh I'm not disagreeing in general. There are probably some classes of drugs like antibiotics which probably lend themselves to overuse/misuse and are probably best kept prescription only for the most part (agriculture overuse notwithstanding). But in general, if there's no good reason something shouldn't be OTC, it probably should be. I'm just saying generic prescription drugs don't necessarily have a huge price uplift vs. OTC.
refurb 3y ago
Actually, profits are higher for OTC. Check out the cost of a prescription for say esomeprazole versus what Costco sells it for. Price competition across pharmacies is far higher (due to low insurance reimbursement) than cash paying patients.
- huthuthike 3y ago
  I think you are looking at the cost of generic prescription drugs vs their generic OTC counterpart. When a drug is first invented it is patented, not generic. The drug company has to look at whether to apply for FDA approval as a prescription or OTC. Most often drug companies look to get approval as prescription, because that is more profitable for patented drugs. Once the drugs move out of patent, that doesn't mean it is automatically approved for OTC sale. A drug maker can look at getting FDA approval for making it OTC. But it costs time and money to do so, with no guarantee of success. In the case of Norgestrel it took until now before any drug maker thought it would be worth pursuing.
  - refurb 3y ago
    I think you are looking at the cost of generic prescription drugs vs their generic OTC counterpart. Of course. Drugs that are approved for OTC are almost always generic by that time. Most often drug companies look to get approval as prescription, because that is more profitable for patented drugs. No, it's not approved as prescription because it's more profitable, it's approved as prescription because that's all the FDA allows. The safety requirements for OTC are far stricter than prescription. Most patented drugs could never become OTC, ever. In the case of Norgestrel it took until now before any drug maker thought it would be worth pursuing. Norgestrel is a generic. All birth control pills pretty much are. The hormones can be in different combinations or formulations, but generally they are all generic components. So my point stands, it's often more profitable to be OTC than prescription.

ghaff 3y ago

Generics at least aren't big moneymakers. With totally pedestrian insurance I pay next to nothing (or nothing) for the variety of meds that I take. Would probably cost more if I could buy them OTC.

parasense 3y ago
Given the 50 years, I'd say the original investment has paid off many times over, and all the generic brands got their cut. It's more than fair to society to allow the medicine to go over the counter.
- ghaff 3y ago
  Oh I'm not disagreeing in general. There are probably some classes of drugs like antibiotics which probably lend themselves to overuse/misuse and are probably best kept prescription only for the most part (agriculture overuse notwithstanding). But in general, if there's no good reason something shouldn't be OTC, it probably should be. I'm just saying generic prescription drugs don't necessarily have a huge price uplift vs. OTC.

refurb 3y ago

Actually, profits are higher for OTC. Check out the cost of a prescription for say esomeprazole versus what Costco sells it for. Price competition across pharmacies is far higher (due to low insurance reimbursement) than cash paying patients.

huthuthike 3y ago
I think you are looking at the cost of generic prescription drugs vs their generic OTC counterpart. When a drug is first invented it is patented, not generic. The drug company has to look at whether to apply for FDA approval as a prescription or OTC. Most often drug companies look to get approval as prescription, because that is more profitable for patented drugs. Once the drugs move out of patent, that doesn't mean it is automatically approved for OTC sale. A drug maker can look at getting FDA approval for making it OTC. But it costs time and money to do so, with no guarantee of success. In the case of Norgestrel it took until now before any drug maker thought it would be worth pursuing.
- refurb 3y ago
  I think you are looking at the cost of generic prescription drugs vs their generic OTC counterpart. Of course. Drugs that are approved for OTC are almost always generic by that time. Most often drug companies look to get approval as prescription, because that is more profitable for patented drugs. No, it's not approved as prescription because it's more profitable, it's approved as prescription because that's all the FDA allows. The safety requirements for OTC are far stricter than prescription. Most patented drugs could never become OTC, ever. In the case of Norgestrel it took until now before any drug maker thought it would be worth pursuing. Norgestrel is a generic. All birth control pills pretty much are. The hormones can be in different combinations or formulations, but generally they are all generic components. So my point stands, it's often more profitable to be OTC than prescription.