Current state of mind: anarchist, in some senses.

[snarp]

I'm basically behind "there should be no prescription drugs, they should all be available OTC" right now. Why is my insurance company refusing to pay for the stuff two different doctors have told me to take, and why does it cost four times more to get it from the pharmacy than to order it from overseas. Why do I need to get a painful unnecessary procedure done and listen to a lecture about diseases I am not at risk for to get a birth control prescription. Why do states keep banning kratom, that stuff is the only thing that works on my fatigue even temporarily.

Comments

[the_rck]

I'm torn on this one. On the one hand, it would be really, really nice to be able to get what I need without jumping through hoops. On the other hand, people do some awfully stupid things with medications, OTC or otherwise. One of the meds I recently stopped taking requires regular blood tests, and having a doctor be required in order to get it is one sure way to make sure that the people on it follow up and get those tests. I also know people who assume that, because something is OTC, there are no side effects or precautions to take.

[snarp]

The thing is, it's easier to hurt yourself using any number of common OTC things than the three things I listed up there. Like, Tylenol, Benadryl, and alcohol are relatively easy to hurt yourself with, but Modafinil, hormonal birth control, and kratom, not so much.

Plain-leaf kratom's so emetic that you'll start vomiting it back up long before you hit the danger zone - to the best of my knowledge no one's every managed to overdose on anything other than weird extracts. And... I've never heard of anyone getting actually sick from taking too much birth control or Modafinil, so I just looked it up. For birth control, apparently you'll throw up and maybe get some vaginal bleeding and skin problems if you take like, the whole packet at once. There's not a lot of data on Modafinil ODs, but apparently they're rare and not commonly fatal or permanently-damaging.

I don't really think that every single chemical in the world should be easily legally consumer-available - certainly some things are so dangerous that there should be a system of checks involving, like, prescriptions-as-they-are-now, hazmat-handling-licenses like there are now, and waiting periods like with firearms (to make impulsive suicides/poisonings more difficult).

But the way we currently do things is grossly inconsistent and hurts a lot of people. For most prescription drugs (and I'm totally including opioids, benzodiazepines, and marijuana here, to be clear) I don't think that relaxing the rules would result in a situation worse than the current one. The current situation is, in medical terms, a fucking shitshow.

[the_rck]

I do tend to prefer to take prescription drugs, though, for the very simple reason that my insurance will pay for them. My migraine medicine costs some absurd amount per pill (like $10), even as a generic, and I could never afford it OTC. I would really like to see insurance cover OTC things that cost more than a certain amount.

[leakinglavender]

"People do really stupid things with X" (as opposed to "malicious things" or "unpopular things" or "things that aren't good for vested corporate interests or state control") is pretty hard to solve with "make X harder to get", and that's before we look at context.

[rachelmanija]

You have to get a procedure done to get a birth control prescription???

[snarp]

Pelvic exams! I haven't found someone willing to write a prescription without doing one, and they are extremely painful for me.