Comment from Deborah E
AnonymousSupportIndividual
Summary: Alexander Mauskop supports making triptans available over-the-counter (OTC) to reduce healthcare costs and improve patient access. He argues that the current prescription-only model creates unnecessary barriers and cites successful precedents in European countries.
Making triptans OTC will help significantly lower healthcare costs to the individual and to the country. Healthcare costs for the individual are far too high in the US. This is one avenue to help with that.
Studies indicate that switching from prescription to OTC status in European countries like the UK and Germany led to significant economic savings for third-party payers, reducing direct spending on migraine management by an estimated €75 million annually across six EU nations due to avoided general practitioner and emergency room visits.
As safety and precedent has been supported by the fact that triptans have been available OTC in various countries for decades without causing issues for public health, the FDA can look to existing data for guidance.
Our current prescription-only model creates unnecessary barriers. It frequently means that patients often delay treatment or rely on less effective over-the-counter analgesics like ibuprofen or acetaminophen, which may result in worse outcomes and higher long-term costs.