The drugs are GlaxoSmithKline’s Voltaren, a gel used to relieve arthritis pain, and two versions of Alcon’s Pataday, an eye drop used for allergy relief.
“Approval of a wider range of nonprescription drugs has the potential to improve public health by increasing the types of drugs consumers can access and use that would otherwise only be available by prescription. This includes providing the millions of people that suffer with joint pain from arthritis daily over-the-counter access to another nonopioid treatment option,” Karen Mahoney, MD, acting deputy director of the FDA’s office of nonprescription drugs, said in a Feb. 14 news release.
For a drug to switch from prescription to over-the-counter status, the drugmaker must prove that consumers can understand how to use the drug safely and effectively without the supervision of a healthcare professional.
All three of the drugs will now be marketed in the U.S. as nonprescription and will no longer be available as prescriptions.
Read the full news release here.
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