Push to bring allergy drugs OTC

By Pete Hartogs
CNN Medical Unit

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A major managed care company is asking the Food and Drug Administration to make three popular prescription allergy medications available over the counter.

If the FDA grants the request of WellPoint Health Networks, the price of Claritin, Allegra and Zyrtec could fall. However, if the medications are no longer prescribed by doctors, patients may have to pay the full cost of the drugs, rather than receiving at least partial reimbursement from their insurance carrier.

Two FDA committees are scheduled to meet Friday to consider the request from WellPoint, formerly Blue Cross of California, which claims the three drugs are just as safe as allergy medicines now sold without prescription.

"Drugs are prescription for a reason," said Robert Seidman, WellPoint's chief pharmacy officer. "They have the ability to do both good and harm. Claritin, Allegra and Zyrtec have almost no side effects and are equally effective as the antihistamines that are available over the counter today."

Managed care companies stand to make money with a switch because they would no longer pay part of the patient's cost.

"These drugs cost approximately $80 to $85 per month [prescribed]," said Seidman. "In Canada and Europe and, in fact, 17 different countries worldwide where these drugs are over-the-counter, the average out-of-pocket cost in U.S. dollars is between $10 and $15 a month."

However, the pharmaceutical companies that make the allergy medications are likely to oppose a switch, which would cost them money. Usually, drug companies support making a drug over-the-counter only when their patent is about to run out, because doing so at that time extends the period during which makers of generic drugs are prohibited from selling lower-priced versions of the drug.

"We think the current system has worked quite well to protect the public health by leaving it in the hands of the manufacturer to figure out whether you have the right safety circumstances in order to allow a medication to be shifted from a prescription-drug status to over-the-counter status," said Alan Holmer, president of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America.

According to WellPoint, sales of Allegra, Claritin and Zyrtec reached over $5 billion last year.

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