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Medical Forum / Diseases and Disorders / Asthma / January 2005Zyrtec and Allegra - no RX required in Canada
I didn't know this until today, but in Canada, Zyrtec and Allegra can be purchased without a prescription and the prices are quite a bit cheaper than they are here (no surprise there). I'm switching insurance carriers (finally getting off Illinois' high risk pool at nearly $700 a month just for me) and trying to find the cheapest way to get either Zyrtec or Allegra and flonase since my allergies will be considered a pre-existing condition. I think it won't be long before they're over the counter drugs and not covered by insurance anyway, but I was still surprised to learn this. > I didn't know this until today, but in Canada, Zyrtec and > Allegra can > be purchased without a prescription As they should be. The FDA has several criterion for determining whether a drug should be OTC. The first is that the disease it treats must be one that a normal person can diagnose and manage without the input of a doctor. Clearly, by making Benedryl, Claritin, etc OTC they have established that allergies qualify. Secondly, the drug in question must be safe enough to take without monitoring by a doctor. The newer agents much safer than the Benedryl and chorpheniramine that are already OTC so there would seem to be no argument there either. Alas, the third is that someone needs to petition them to change the status (if it is not launched OTC in the first place - like Abreva was). This is expensive and likely to be all the more expensive if someone opposes it (such as the drug company that wants to remain on prescription status. Claritin is illustrative. A few years ago they had about two years left on their patent and it was widely assumed that they would go OTC as soon as off patent. A bunch of insurance carriers took the novel approach of petitioning the FDA for OTC status (so they would not have to pay for the drug). It was the first time anyone other than the manufacturer of a drug had done this. They won but had to fight the objections of Claritin's manufacturer. Claritin found itself in the interesting position of having to argue that they should not be OTC......yet......while not shooting themselves in the foot for their own petition that was sure to come in two years. So they argued that it was probably safe but a few more studies were needed that were underway and were expected to be finnished in.......you guessed it...... two years. Obviously, it was a rediculous argument and they lost. But I'm sure they did succeed in jacking up the price of the petition (and hence, cooling off futute attempts) and delaying it enough to make a few million in sales. > and the prices are quite a bit > cheaper than they are here (no surprise there). Its probably true - being Canada and all - but you have to watch the quantities and consider whether you are paying a co-pay or not. In the US when products like Claritin and Prilosec* have gone OTC they were packaged in quantities of less than 30 (often 12) and priced just below what most people were paying for a co-pay. So if they did not do the math they would not realize that they were actually paying more per pill. If you are paying full price then it was chaper but for most people with insurance coverage it was not. *Prilosec is another illustrative case into the workings of our FDA/big pharma system that I won't go into here. > I'm switching > insurance carriers (finally getting off Illinois' high [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > allergies will be > considered a pre-existing condition. Canada is probably a good bet. Have you tried generic Claritin (Alavert)? > I think it won't be long before > they're over the counter drugs and not covered by > insurance anyway, > but I was still surprised to learn this. I'm sure of it. If memory serves Allegra did not follow too far behind Claritin so they probably don't have much patent life left. When it runs out they will certainly go OTC.  Signature00doc I wasn't thinking of copay, but out of pocket, because at the time I was considering switching insurance plans. The allergies would be pre-existing for me, and therefore, meds would be on me. I know what you're saying though, for the benefit of others who have insurance, they may be better off using the insurance and just worrying about the copay, depending on what their benefit is. Joy, here are the links I found: http://www.rxdiscount.net/prescription.php?letter=A http://www.getcanadiandrugs.com/ http://www.jandrugs.com/ I just got some bad news on a biopsy that was done last week, so all of this is moot now for me. I won't be switching carriers for years. :-( >I wasn't thinking of copay, but out of pocket, because at the time I >was considering switching insurance plans. The allergies would be >pre-existing for me, and therefore, meds would be on me. I know what >you're saying though, for the benefit of others who have insurance, >they may be better off using the insurance and just worrying about the >copay, depending on what their benefit is. actually pre existing only applies only if you had *no* previous insurance. when you switch companies your old company will send you a letter of credible coverage which you send to the new company and they cannot deny your claims (I work in a hospital business office) I don't have full time employees, I have part time contracted employees, which means no group insurance. So in my case, I had planned to go from the high risk Illinois CHIP plan to another private plan. This means that there are pre-existing clauses and conditions involved > >I wasn't thinking of copay, but out of pocket, because at the time I > >was considering switching insurance plans. The allergies would be [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > coverage which you send to the new company and they cannot deny your claims (I > work in a hospital business office) Does prior coverage include VA? pavane Maureen, Do you have a line on a good source? Email me. Joy > I didn't know this until today, but in Canada, Zyrtec and Allegra can > be purchased without a prescription and the prices are quite a bit [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > they're over the counter drugs and not covered by insurance anyway, but > I was still surprised to learn this. NorthShoreCEO@aol.com wrote in news:1105753506.683441.155900 @z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com: > I didn't know this until today, but in Canada, Zyrtec and Allegra can > be purchased without a prescription and the prices are quite a bit > cheaper than they are here (no surprise there). Allegra is the more expensive one in Canada since there is no generic. For Zyrtec (Reactine in Canada) - there is a generic available. I don't often buy antihistamines in the winter but in the spring/summer I saw boxes of 30 generic Zyrtec/Reactine going for $11 (Cdn) or so for the 10 mg ones (that is about $9/US for a months worth). |
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