Healthy Skepticism Library item: 8334

Warning: This library includes all items relevant to health product marketing that we are aware of regardless of quality. Often we do not agree with all or part of the contents.

Publication type: Journal Article

Erwin J, Britten N, Jones R.
Pharmacists and deregulation: case of H2 antagonists
Journal of Social and Administrative Pharmacy 1996; 13:(3):150-158

Abstract:

The views of community pharmacists in England toward the OTC availability of various drugs in relation to particular clinical scenarios and the pharmacists’ experiences with the provision of OTC histamine H2 antagonists and their concerns regarding the OTC availability of these agents were examined using questionnaires that were mailed to the principal pharmacists of 500 randomly selected pharmacies in 8 randomly selected Family Health Service Authority areas. Of the 500 questionnaires, 54.4% were returned. There were significant differences between the responses of the pharmacists as to whether they would or would not recommend the OTC use of various drugs in the clinical scenarios, with 1 exception. Overall, the pharmacists supported increased deregulation of prescription only medicines, but they had reservations about changing the status of certain drugs. In the case of histamine H2 antagonists, only a small percentage of pharmacists experienced no difficulties in carrying out their counseling role. There was little consensus about the consultation process regarding these agents. A major concern of the respondents was the inappropriate advertising, especially on television, of histamine H2 antagonists by drug manufacturers, which they felt contributed to counseling problems.