"George Leppla" wrote in message
news:el9n5u0tjk@news3.newsguy.com...
>
> "Reef Fish" wrote
>
>> meclizine is only ONE of SEVEN different ingredients in the
>> over-the-counter motion sickness drugs. That is also why
>> meclizine is PRESCRIPTION.
>
> Well... not quite.
>
> Meclizine Hydrochloride (25 mg) is the only active ingredient in Bonine.
> The rest are inactive fillers such as FD&C Red 40, Lactose, Magnesium
> Stearate, Purified Siliceous Earth, Raspberry Flavor, Saccharin Sodium,
> Starch, Talc Look at http://tinyurl.com/yude4 http://tinyurl.com/y6hfb6
> and others.
>
> Now here comes the wierd part. Meclizine Hydrochloride can be bought
> either as a prescription or OTC without a prescription. OTC brands
> include Bonine.... but if you go to a Pharmacy and ask the pharmasist for
> plain old generic meclizine, they will sell it to you. It is very
> inexpensive when you buy it this way. Why? Because Meclizine
> Hydrochloride is listed on the FDA's "Over the Counter" ingredient list:
> http://www.fda.gov/cder/Offices/OTC/Ingredient_List_D-O.pdf (page 47 and
> 48)
>
> Since Meclizine is a registered OTC ingredient for other compounded meds,
> it can be sold alone without a perscription. It is confusing, but after
> all, it is the government we are talking about.
>
Sometimes it can be science as well.
For certain uses, drug interactions with other drugs may come into play. If
Meclizine is being used for nausea in chemotherapy treatment, you may want
to have a pharmacist look at potential drug interaction contraindications
based on the chemo agents. That may not be the case with using the product
for seasickness.
Other things can come into play as well. In order for a prescription drug
to be granted OTC status, it frequently has to meet certain criteria, which
(I've read) may include things like achieving 1 million written
prescriptions. It must also be pretty much problem free. You simply may
not have 1 million prescriptions to cover its use for chemotherapy nausea.
Or it may be difficult establishing how problem free it is when toxic chemo
agents are also in the body.
So with some indications, such as cancer treatment, you may wish to keep a
prescription version, even if there is an OTC version available.
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