Nexium is Available Over-The-Counter

Nexium, a medication to treat acid reflux, has gone over-the-counter and joins Prilosec and Prevacid as ex-prescriptions now OTC.

It's available for purchase in most pharmacies and even on Amazon.

Read more about how reflux medications work here.

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Nasacort AQ Steroid Nasal Spray NOW Available OTC!

Sanofi announced in 2013 that the FDA had approved Nasacort steroid nasal spray to be made available over-the-counter (OTC) starting sometime spring 2014.

Well... It's now available for about $20. Here's where you can get it on Amazon.com.

Nasacort is a steroid nasal spray used to treat allergies in patients starting from the age of 2 years old. It is similar to prescription steroid nasal sprays like flonase, nasonex, etc. It is also the very first steroid nasal spray made OTC in the United States which can be both a blessing as well as a curse.

Why?

With Nasacort going OTC which will certainly make it more convenient for patients, I also anticipate that the other prescription steroid nasal sprays including flonase, nasonex, qnasl, zetonna, veramyst, etc will become much harder to prescribe due to insurance requiring patients to use OTC Nasacort first. Worst case, insurance may even simply stop paying for the prescription steroid nasal sprays.

After all, this is exactly what happened with prescription reflux and anti-histamine medications.

Source:
FDA Approves Sanofi's Nasacort(R) Allergy 24HR for Over-the-Counter Use. Wall Street Journal 10/11/13

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Nasacort Steroid Nasal Spray to be Available Over-The-Counter!

Sanofi announced today that the FDA has approved Nasacort steroid nasal spray to be made available over-the-counter (OTC) starting sometime spring 2014.

Nasacort is a steroid nasal spray used to treat allergies in patients start from the age of 2 years old. It will also be the very first steroid nasal spray made OTC in the United States which can be both a blessing as well as a curse.

Why?

With Nasacort going OTC which will certainly make it more convenient for patients, I also anticipate that the other prescription steroid nasal sprays including nasonex, qnasl, zetonna, veramyst, etc will become much harder to prescribe due to insurance requiring patients to use OTC Nasacort first. Worst case, insurance may even simply stop paying for the prescription steroid nasal sprays.

After all, this is exactly what happened with prescription reflux and anti-histamine medications.

Source:
FDA Approves Sanofi's Nasacort(R) Allergy 24HR for Over-the-Counter Use. Wall Street Journal 10/11/13

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Hearing Loss May be Caused by Aspirin, Tylenol, and NSAIDS

Researchers from Harvard and Vanderbilt reported that men who regularly take aspirin, tylenol, or NSAIDS (like ibuprofen) are at increased risk of hearing loss. This increased risk of hearing loss is significantly higher the longer the duration of regular use (defined as 2 or more times per week) and if regular use starts under the age of 50 years.

For women, however, only tylenol and NSAIDS were found harmful to hearing (not aspirin).

Indeed, the conclusion is that regular over-the-counter pain killers may in fact be mildly ototoxic and that such overuse be avoided if possible and would not adversely affect health in other more important aspects (ie, especially in the absence of heart or vascular disease for which daily aspirin is often recommended).

Just goes to show you that too much of any medication is harmful.

Not only does tylenol lead to hearing loss, but it can also cause liver failure and accounts for 400 deaths in the US every year. [more info]

Ibuprofen is even worse leading to bleeding problems and 15,000 to 20,000 deaths in the US every year. [more info]


References:
Analgesic Use and the Risk of Hearing Loss in Women. Am J Epidemiol. 2012 Sep 15;176(6):544-54. Epub 2012 Aug 29. [full text]

Analgesic use and the risk of hearing loss in men. Am J Med. 2010 Mar;123(3):231-7. doi: 10.1016/j.amjmed.2009.08.006. [full text]

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