Diabetes Drugs to be Sold Without Prescription?

Yes I agree that it would be dangerous to be taking drugs without noting the side effects. I started to think about metformin which promises weight loss. Would those with eating disorders misunderstand and begin to pop these pills indisciminately? I have an overweight friend who has been told that she is a prediabetic even though her blood tests are fine. She has no family history and the diagnosis was based entirely on her weight. Would people like my friend start taking metformin? I take metformin but as little as possible. While it is considered to be safe, there can be serious side effects.

When I was very new and went to the Joslin intensive program a very good CDE mentioned that she (and by implication I) could figure out insulin adjustments because the problem was straightforward but that T2s needed their doctor or Endo to make medication adjustments because the actions were more complex and indirect. That is certainly the case if a T2 is balancing multiple drugs including possibly insulin.

Maurie

We need to clone that CDE. :)

Do you think syringes should be prescription because of druggies? In some ways it might be better if they could get clean ones easily. I figure I can't stop them from using but maybe a few less AIDS or other blood borne diseases would be good.

I think a better solution would be to make a prescription something that never runs out. Get your prescription registered into a database and you can transfer it if you move etc.

My concern with allowing people to self diagnose and self medicate is that they will do something harmful to themselves because they don't know what they are doing. Granted, even diabetic who are diagnosed often don't get the info they need but usually they get enough to prevent something really dangerous from happening.

I can picture people with a weight problem self prescribing met. I don't know if it is really dangerous for people without diabetes but taking meds that you don't need generally isn't a good idea.

With insulin, I think that there is sort of the deterrent that most people wouldn't want to inject themselves.

In Ontario you can buy insulin in any form, vial or pen fill, without a RX. Over the years we have purchased Humalog, R, NPH, Levimir, NovoRapid all without an RX. You can buy syringes, pen tips, test strips, ketone test strips etc, all without an RX. I never buy any of those items on prescription. They are behind the pharmacy counter. I have to ask for them but I do not have to prove diabetes to purchase them. I do ask for a manual receipt which I submit to our insurer. Our insurer does not require an RX to reimburse the expense. I don't buy my son's diabetes supplies on a prescription which saves a $10 to $12 RX filling fee each pharmacy visit. I also buy my son's pump supplies without an RX. I buy the pump supplies on a 12 month automated pre-order, three months delivered at a time by courier to my workplace to save 15% of the total supply costs. The only item that I have had to provide an RX for is glucagon. Considering the fact that I make a trip to the pharmacy every other week for supplies, not paying the RX filling fee saves our drug plan $260 or more, a year.

I live in rural Ontario, not having to produce an RX to pick up any of my son's supplies means that on a work day I can go into one of the pharmacies between work and home. On a weekend I can go to the pharmacy in the nearest village to my home. If we are away from home I can walk into a pharmacy in a different city altogether, which I have actually done, when we were having high BG difficulties one hockey weekend and we wanted to rule out that his vial of insulin had not been compromised.

Being able to buy the above items without prescription has no impact on the number of blood tests that my son averages each day. It also has no impact on the number of visits to the doctor. In Ontario, insulin pump supplies are partially funded by the province to the extent of $200 per month. Annually the endocrinologist is required to complete a report confirming proper pump management to the provincial government, confirm a minimum of three endo visits per year, and minimum of 4 BG tests daily, no instances of DKA, etc.

I am split on this issue too. I can see it being helpful for someone like me, who prefers getting his medication without too much fuss and doctor appointments, but I realize that can be dangerous, for other people especially as well. I think that there does need to be a simpler system for people to get their drugs, but on the other hand, I don't think that we should eliminate all safety nets.

I could not agree more about the database. My doctor will refuse to refill my prescriptions if I do not come in to see him at least twice a year. I feel like it's worse than blackmail. "No, I don't have the money you need from the last time I visited, but I still need insulin!"
In the last instance, they transferred me to the financial office and made me pay $100 towards my bill from last year that I am trying to get paid off before they would schedule my appointment BEFORE they would call in a prescription for me! Then, when I arrived at the visit, I was "called back" to the "special desk" and had to pay another $100 to get my bill "current."
I don't understand how a doctor can refuse to call in a prescription for insulin--something you need to live! So yes, I think being able to get some diabetic meds OTC would be a great thing. I go to an awesome small-town type pharmacy and they know us pretty well there. If I ever had an emergency, I know they would help. But what if I'm out of town??

The only bonus to that visit was that when I told my doc I was completely out of Lantus, he got me a free vial as he wrote out my prescription. So I got about 3 months of Lantus for the price of 2...