Posted by med_empowered on June 15, 2007, at 19:07:22
In reply to SiCko, posted by LlurpsieNoodle on June 15, 2007, at 13:26:31
here's how I see it: if the FDA stepped off the rx thing and just let all drugs compete on the open market place, with doctors in place to help consumers pick meds (which they do in countries like Mexico, where a lot of meds are OTC) and the FDA sticking to making sure available drugs are reasonably safe...prices would go down. way, way down. Because not only would multiple companies manufacture the same meds, but also consumers could pick. So, you have ADHD: do you buy generic amphetamine tabs for, say, 20 for 30, or do you buy brand-name, Adderall XR for 100? Or do you spend 150 for straterra? Depression--same deal: 20 for some xanax and maybe a low-dose of dexedrine, or do you pop out 300 for the latest antidepressant?
Drug companies would have to create meds that not only WORKED, but worked BETTER than competing drugs, because they're not marketing to docs, they're marketing straight to consumers. As for the risks...100,000+ people in the US already die from rx drugs; I doubt consumers will do much worse than docs are now.
poster:med_empowered
thread:762971
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20070613/msgs/763443.html