few things move slower than the wheels of progress at the food & drug administration, but at least they have caught up with the rest of the world. or rather, they have caught up with the “rest of the world” if you think of the “rest of the world” as europe, or maybe just the united kingdom. all i know is this. for years, londoners have not needed a prescription to purchase the wonder drug that allows me to breathe without annoyance. you could just wander right into your local boots shop and grab a pack off the shelf. but back here in the states, we have to stand and stare in the cold and flu aisle when we know we have neither a cold nor flu, and then we have to decide just which half-ass’d sinus remedy to put out faith in this time. what a waste of time and money… thankfully, claritin, that lovely little pill, became available for generic OTC production just last week, so that means we could see it lining our drugstore shelves as early as january of 2003. and don’t misunderstand me. this is not a plug. things like this should be available without a prescription much earlier. it’s not like the fda is really pondering our collective safety here. they are not waiting it out until they know the public can be trusted to consume without restriction. it is really all about money. specifically, just how much money can schering-plough make before the public is thoroughly milked? or eli lilly? or any of the others?
or maybe i’m being reactionary. or perhaps my allergies are acting up again.
