Currently, drugs are available as prescription or non-prescription. The FDA announced on it's website Wednesday, however, that it is "interested in obtaining public comment as it explores the public health benefit of certain drugs being available without a prescription but only after the intervention of a pharmacist."
The FDA will hold a public hearing on the matter in D.C. on November 14 and will be taking written and electronic comments.
"If a patient can't go see a doctor for some reason, this is a way that they might be able to get the product directly through the pharmacist," Ilisa Bernstein, the FDA's director of pharmacy affairs told Bloomberg News.
The "behind-the-counter" system, the FDA announcement says, is supported by some grops because it "could increase patient access to medications that may be underutilized, particularly by patients without health insurance."
Many other industrialized nations, including Australia, Canada, France and the U.K., already have comparable systems in place.
The FDA did not say what drugs might be included.
The FDA has considered offering "behind-the-counter" drugs in the past, but has decided against the proposals. However, with more and more Americans lacking access to health care, the issue has come up again among the FDA's top brass, Bernstein said.
It is expected, however, that the over-the-counter medicine lobby and the American Medical Association, among other groups, will oppose the plan.
