Critics create headaches over OTC drugs - regulations to prevent retail discount houses from selling non-prescription drugs - Washington Report - Column

Discount Store News, April 20, 1992 by Ken Rankin

Should discount stores and other "non-pharmacy" retail outlets be allowed to continue selling aspirin, cough syrup and other non-prescription medicines?

Or should these "over-the-counter" drugs be restricted to stores where a registered pharmacist is on duty?

That's a question that has been debated off and on for decades. In every case, the issue has been resolved by concluding that it is not in the public interest to limit the public's access to OTC medications.

The arguments for unrestricted sale of non-prescription drugs are compelling.

Creating a pharmacy "monopoly" over the distribution of OTCs would inevitably reduce price competition at the retail level and drive up costs to consumers.

Since self-medication is an important vehicle for holding down the spiraling cost of health care, restricting the availability of over-the-counter drugs and increasing their cost could very possibly have a double barreled impact.

Moreover, opponents of restrictions on OTC sales contend that there is no public health or safety basis for tighter controls on the distribution of these products. While there is a need for pharmacists to supervise the dispensing of more potent and potentially dangerous prescription drugs, proprietary medicines have been shown to be safe and effective.

That last point, however, is now being challenged by congressional OTC drug critics who say there's evidence of widespread safety problems with many commonly used patent medicines.

In a recent report to House Small Business Subcommittee chairman Ron Wyden (D-Ore), the congressional General Accounting office cited "numerous examples of health hazards" associted with such widely used OTC drugs as aspirin, ibuprofen and acetaminophen.

GAO's report suggests that tougher FDA review of OTC drug safety is needed, and one result of the controversy may be to discourage the agency from shifting medications from prescription to non-prescription status.

But there's also a possibility that the concerns which are currently being discussed in Washington now could be used to rekindle interest in requiring pharmacist control over the sale of OTCs.

Already some consumer groups have joined pharmacy organizations in endorsing proposals to create a so-called "third-class" of drugs--medicines available without a prescription, but only from a pharmacist.

Will the next step be a campaign to ban the sale of all OTC by discount stores, supermarkets and other non-pharmacy outlets?