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Alternatives to Expensive Over-the-Counter Claritin

Aired April 23, 2003 - 11:48   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: It's allergy season, and the 50 million of us allergy sufferers in the U.S. are well aware of that, but soon more allergy drugs may be available without having to go to the doctor to get them.
Our medical news correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen, is here now with details in our "Daily Dose" of health news -- good morning.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. The FDA is considering putting two more allergy medications over the counter. Now, they would join one allergy medication that is already over the counter that used to be a prescription. It's called Claritin, and you can now buy it over the counter, because about six months ago, the FDA said, Look, we think it's safe enough that people should be able to take it without having to get a prescription from the doctor.

But the big question is, do you really want it to be over the counter from the standpoint of your pocketbook? When Claritin was prescription, you would pay whatever your insurance co-pay was, so let's say $10. But now, a month's supply of Claritin costs $30 over the counter. So that -- it is about three times as expensive as it used to be for many people. And so the question is, do you really want to have this happen?

Now, who likes this idea? Well, insurance companies like this idea, and that is why it's an insurance company called WellPoint that actually petitioned the FDA to have all three of these prescription allergy medications made over the counter. So they've asked the FDA to do this. The FDA already made the decision with Claritin, and is working on the decision with the other two. And as a matter of fact, right now people tell me that when you go to you -- now insurance companies are sending letters to their patients who take prescription allergy medications, and saying, Hey, don't you think you ought to try Claritin? Because that way, the patient pays for it, and not the insurance company.

HARRIS: Interesting. Is there any way for us to save money at all? Because it seems like, now, they're packaging them in smaller amounts. You only get four tablets at a time. You feel like you have to either buy tons of them, or you have to run to the store on a regular basis to get some more, and they cost a fortune.

COHEN: Right. You have to walk out of the drug store with this huge bag of Claritin that costs you a lot of money. Right. Well, there are two things that you can think about doing to save money. First of all, you can look for generic over-the-counter Claritin. It has the exact same active ingredient as the brand name Claritin. It costs about $16 a month, so that is about half the price of buying a brand name over-the-counter Claritin. Plus, you ought to think, do I even want these drugs? These are pretty expensive drugs. There are other drugs that are less expensive. For example, there are prescription nasal sprays that are less expensive, and that many studies say actually work better.

HARRIS: Yes, but won't those go over the counter some day, and then do the same thing that Claritin did to us...

(CROSSTALK)

COHEN: But you have got years to worry about that, Leon. Years.

HARRIS: Really? Well, in that case, that's good news, then.

COHEN: That's right.

HARRIS: Thank you very much, Elizabeth. Elizabeth Cohen.

COHEN: OK. All right. Thanks.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired April 23, 2003 - 11:48   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: It's allergy season, and the 50 million of us allergy sufferers in the U.S. are well aware of that, but soon more allergy drugs may be available without having to go to the doctor to get them.
Our medical news correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen, is here now with details in our "Daily Dose" of health news -- good morning.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. The FDA is considering putting two more allergy medications over the counter. Now, they would join one allergy medication that is already over the counter that used to be a prescription. It's called Claritin, and you can now buy it over the counter, because about six months ago, the FDA said, Look, we think it's safe enough that people should be able to take it without having to get a prescription from the doctor.

But the big question is, do you really want it to be over the counter from the standpoint of your pocketbook? When Claritin was prescription, you would pay whatever your insurance co-pay was, so let's say $10. But now, a month's supply of Claritin costs $30 over the counter. So that -- it is about three times as expensive as it used to be for many people. And so the question is, do you really want to have this happen?

Now, who likes this idea? Well, insurance companies like this idea, and that is why it's an insurance company called WellPoint that actually petitioned the FDA to have all three of these prescription allergy medications made over the counter. So they've asked the FDA to do this. The FDA already made the decision with Claritin, and is working on the decision with the other two. And as a matter of fact, right now people tell me that when you go to you -- now insurance companies are sending letters to their patients who take prescription allergy medications, and saying, Hey, don't you think you ought to try Claritin? Because that way, the patient pays for it, and not the insurance company.

HARRIS: Interesting. Is there any way for us to save money at all? Because it seems like, now, they're packaging them in smaller amounts. You only get four tablets at a time. You feel like you have to either buy tons of them, or you have to run to the store on a regular basis to get some more, and they cost a fortune.

COHEN: Right. You have to walk out of the drug store with this huge bag of Claritin that costs you a lot of money. Right. Well, there are two things that you can think about doing to save money. First of all, you can look for generic over-the-counter Claritin. It has the exact same active ingredient as the brand name Claritin. It costs about $16 a month, so that is about half the price of buying a brand name over-the-counter Claritin. Plus, you ought to think, do I even want these drugs? These are pretty expensive drugs. There are other drugs that are less expensive. For example, there are prescription nasal sprays that are less expensive, and that many studies say actually work better.

HARRIS: Yes, but won't those go over the counter some day, and then do the same thing that Claritin did to us...

(CROSSTALK)

COHEN: But you have got years to worry about that, Leon. Years.

HARRIS: Really? Well, in that case, that's good news, then.

COHEN: That's right.

HARRIS: Thank you very much, Elizabeth. Elizabeth Cohen.

COHEN: OK. All right. Thanks.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com