FDA Hears Pros, Cons of Pharmacist-to-Patient ...( 'Behind-the-counter' dispensing would...),Health

'Behind-the-counter' dispensing would bypass doctors for some prescriptions

WEDNESDAY, Nov. 14 (HealthDay News) -- During a day-long public hearing Wednesday on whether to allow certain drugs to be sold by pharmacists without a prescription, U.S. Food and Drug Administration officials listened to arguments for and against the proposal by representatives of various medical and public interest groups.

But at the day's end, the FDA officials said they weren't ready to make a decision on whether to create a new class of drugs that pharmacists could sell "behind-the-counter." And, they wouldn't speculate on a timetable for such a decision.

"Today we benefited from a wide ranging discussion of views from a variety of stakeholders in the health-care arena about whether increased use of behind-the-counter access could benefit patients and public health," Randall Lutter, the FDA's deputy commissioner for policy, said during a late afternoon teleconference.

Right now, the agency is interested in gathering views from the public on whether behind-the-counter (BTC) drug sales could be beneficial to consumers, Lutter said. "We will review the comments we got today and the comments that we receive in writing to our open public docket, and then we will evaluate appropriate next steps," he said. "We haven't decided what the next step might be."

If the proposal were to be enacted, it would create a new class of drugs that could be sold by pharmacists "behind-the-counter." Such drugs might include birth control pills, cholesterol drugs and migraine medicine, experts said. Their sales would require that patients discuss these purchases with the pharmacist first.

Lutter said greater consumer involvement in health care is driving the FDA's decision to consider "behind-the-counter" drugs. "Our interest is driven by an increased trend toward consumer involvement and consumer and patient empowerment in their own decisio
'/>"/>