Add PreP and PEP to The List of Drugs the FDA Should Make OTC

Jeffrey A. SingerThis week California Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law a bill that allows people at risk for contracting HIV to obtain both pre-exposure prophylaxis (PreP) and post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP)directly from a pharmacist, avoiding the inconvenience and expense of having to visit the doctor for a prescription. Drugs that provide HIV prophylaxis are classified as prescription-only by the Food and Drug Administration. States get to determine the scope of practice of their licensed health care practitioners. Expanding the scope of practice of pharmacists to allow them to prescribe a prescription-only drug has been increasingly used by state legislatures to work around the federal prescription requirements in order to improve access (and decrease cost) to medications their residents want and need.The legislation improving the availability and access to HIV prophylaxis is an excellent public health measure that was endorsed by the California Medical Association and received bipartisan support.California also has a well-developedsyringe services program, operating in the state since the 1980s, aimed at getting clean needles to, and reducing needle sharing among, intravenous drug users.Both needle exchange programs and expanding access to HIV prophylaxis are two excellent public health measures that, in combination, should go a  long way towards the goal of eliminating new cases of HIV, and can be enacted on thestate level without requiring federal consent.Californ...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - Category: American Health Authors: Source Type: blogs