I have mixed feelings about this, especially considering the US is the only first world country where direct-to-consumer marketing is allowed for medications.
Bypassing the prescription requirement is of course of significant value to drug companies, who expend quite a bit of resources to sway doctors with free lunches, conferences and soft persuasion tactics.
Usually I welcome the freedom to chose but this doesn't increase availability: the bottleneck is not with the doctors, it's with pricing. Drug prices aren't going to go down with this measure, and will remain 3-5x the price of the exact same meds sold in Europe.
Bypassing the prescription requirement is of course of significant value to drug companies, who expend quite a bit of resources to sway doctors with free lunches, conferences and soft persuasion tactics.
Usually I welcome the freedom to chose but this doesn't increase availability: the bottleneck is not with the doctors, it's with pricing. Drug prices aren't going to go down with this measure, and will remain 3-5x the price of the exact same meds sold in Europe.