UK Approves OTC Antibiotic For Chlamydia
11 CommentsBy Ed Silverman // August 6th, 2008 // 7:42 am
Self-medication gets another nod of approval from the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, which will allow anyone 16 years and older to buy a pill for chlamydia, a sexually transmitted disease, without a prescription. The oral antibiotic in question is azithromycin, which is sold as Clamelle by Iceland’s Actavis.
“Chlamydia is the most common sexually transmitted disease in the UK. Up to 70 percent of people who have chlamydia have no symptoms and could therefore remain undiagnosed. This means that they are at huge risk of serious long-term health complications, including infertility and ectopic pregnancy,” June Raine, MHRA’s director of rigilance and risk management, says in a statement.
The UK has increasingly encouraged self-medication as a way to increase patient choice and lower government health care spending, and already allows OTC sales of drugs for treating high cholesterol and migraines. “The MHRA is keen to support the availability of more medicines over-the-counter, where it is safe to do so, and we wish to move on to new areas such as prevention and chronic disease management,” Raine adds.
Marilyn Mann
I don’t know much about chlamydia, but I am wondering how people can be sure that’s what they have without going to a doctor.
James
Antibiotics available without a prescription? Despite the evidence that overprescribing of antibiotics, and improper administration of same is contributing to the rise of so-called “superbugs”? And now we’re going to let anyone get them, and not monitor whether they are taking them properly?
Brilliant. No risk of unintended consequences here.
Michael
Oops… they just approved Zithromax OTC, which means patients can self-treat till the symptoms are gone and increase the spread of antibiotic resistance. Sounds like we should buy stock in MRSA companies… thanks UK!
atlex
All,
Right or wrong, this is not as simple as the article makes it sound. At the same time the drug was approved for OTC sale in the UK, an OTC test kit was also approved. If the test is positive, the consumer would take 1 tablet as the entire treatment. From what I understand, the antibiotic actually is behind the consumer. The consumer must show confirmation of a positive test result to the pharmacist before being allowed to purchase the drug. The article below explains it.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1041949/The-new-counter-test-cure-chlamydia.html
Atlex
James
Dammit, Atlex, how can we jump to conclusions and fearmonger if you’re going to post all the facts?
In seriousness, there could be issues here, but it sounds like they allayed the issues of patients not finishing a run of antibiotics, and of overadministration of same.
The gov’t got it right. Yes, even I acknowledge that it can happen.
Lisa Van S
Atlex,
I had lived in Belgium for nearly five years, although we use the term Pharmacists here in the United States, Belgians refer to them as Chemists. On several occasions I had to have prescriptions filled. I had had an allergic reaction to a Spider bite and was treated by a Belgian Chemist and was given Claritan, at the time, here in the US, Claritan could only be obtained with a prescription. I agree!! Right or wrong,.. Belgian Chemists know what they are doing, and I hold them in the highest regard.
Lisa Van S
Atlex,.. also, In Belgium, RU486 can be purchased over the counter, and chemists disply great professionalism when dispensing. no personal knoweledge, only what others have expressed. Consumer word of mouth,. you know.
Jack2
There’s an effort from the APhA (American Pharmacists Association) to get a behind-the-counter class of medications in the US.
Dan
This best-selling macrolide antibiotic can treat other STDs as well, such as gonorrhea (when used with a cephalosporin).
Addi
I have to confess, I prefer the post image at PharmaGossip better. Yours says, “Hi. I have a disgusting infection that I can now easily treat and you may want to kiss me later.” Their image says, “I have no penis. I have chlamydia.”
Addi
I tried to link to the image but it bombed.
http://pharmagossip.blogspot.com/2008/08/actavis-clamelle-otc-antibiotic.html