One of the meds I take is Zyrtec, for allergies. Works well for me.
I got to wondering why it’s prescription-only rather than OTC. Could a person OD on it easily? It’s not like an antibiotic, which could have bad results if taken inappropriately. AFAIK it could not make anyone intoxicated or be made into an intoxicant. I’ve taken OTC allergy and sinus congestion stuff that has miserable side effects. The RxList description of side effects and drug interactions seems comparable or less than OTC decongestions.
I’m hoping some M.D. or pharmacist knows why I have to get a prescription.
I can’t answer the specific question of why, but Claritin is in the same drug class and acts on the same receptor and is available in OTC and generic (loratadine) if you haven’t tried it yet.
Pfizer owns the patent which expires before the end of this year. I suspect they could have pursued OTC approval long ago but failed to, in order to maximize profits. Some countries don’t give the company the choice of whether or not to pursue the switch.
Johnson and Johnson recently bought Pfizer’s non-prescription drug business and as part of the deal they will own the name Zyrtec after it loses patent protection. They are pre-approved by the FDA to start selling OTC Zyrtec by early next year.