LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - The FDA says that over-the-counter distribution would let patients get drugs for many common conditions without the time and expense of visiting a doctor. As expected, many medical providers call the proposal medically unsound. They also point out that most medical insurances will no longer pay for the drugs.

"The problem is medicine is just not that simple," Dr. Matthew Mintz, an internist at George Washington University Hospital says. "You can't just follow rules and weigh all the pros and cons. It needs to be individualized."

Among the many changes being considered, patients could diagnose their ailments by answering questions online or at a pharmacy kiosk in order to buy current prescription-only drugs for conditions such as high cholesterol, certain infections, migraine headaches, asthma or allergies.

By removing the prescription requirement from popular drugs, the Obama administration could ease financial pressures on the overburdened Medicare system by paying for fewer doctor visits and possibly opening the door to make seniors pay a larger share of the cost of their medications.

However, there may be mixed results for non-Medicare patients. Although they may not have to visit a doctor as often, they could have to dish out more money for medications because most insurance companies don't cover over-the-counter drugs.

"We would expect that out-of-pocket costs for insured individuals, including those covered by Medicare, would be increased for drugs that are switched from prescription to OTC status," Dr. Sandra Adamson Fryhofer says, who testified last month on behalf of the American Medical Association in an FDA-held public hearing.

Both pharmacists and doctors have lined up on opposite sides of the issue. Pharmacists embrace the notion that they should be able to dole out medication for patients' chronic conditions without making them go through a doctor. Many people underestimate their years of medical training.

"We think it's a great development for everybody - for pharmacists, for patients and the whole health care system," Brian Gallagher, a lobbyist for the American Pharmacists Association says. "The way we look at it is there are a lot of people out there with chronic conditions that are undertreated and this would enable the pharmacists to redirect these undertreated people back into the health care system."

Medical providers urged caution, saying the government should not try to cut health care costs by cutting out doctors.

"What the government via the FDA has decided to do is just bypass the expensive doctor and to satisfy some safety concerns of letting people just pick out their medications is make sure they have to get counsel by the pharmacists," Dr. Mintz said. "I believe there is value to using pharmacists, but not at the expense of primary care."

Dr. Fryhofer also questioned whether the FDA, who says more patients will be likely to obtain the drugs they need under the proposed model, has been significantly proven.

"The FDA has not offered any evidence establishing that it is safe, or patient outcomes are improved, when patients with hypertension, [high cholesterol], asthma or migraine headaches self-diagnose and manage these (or other) serious chronic medical conditions on their own," she said.

Comments on the proposal are due by May 7.

© 2012, Distributed by NEWS CONSORTIUM.