III

105TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. RES. 99

To encourage consumers to consult with their pharmacists in connection

with the purchase and use of over-the-counter drug products.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JUNE 12, 1997

Mr. DASCHLE submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the

Committee on Labor and Human Resources

RESOLUTION

To encourage consumers to consult with their pharmacists

in connection with the purchase and use of over-thecounter drug products.

1 Resolved,

2 SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

3 The Congress finds the following:

4 (1) The Food and Drug Administration has

5 proposed that the content and format of over-the6 counter (OTC) drug product labels be made more

7 user-friendly to help consumers better understand

8 how to properly use these medications.

9 (2) Almost 60 percent of total OTC drug prod10 uct sales of $29,000,000,000 are made by commu-
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•SRES 99 IS

1 nity retail pharmacies, where a pharmacist is avail2 able for consultation with the consumer about the

3 product.

4 (3) A significant number of potent prescription

5 medications have been switched to OTC status over

6 the last few years and others are likely to be

7 switched over in the next few years. Many consum8 ers may be unaware of the potential problems that

9 may occur when OTC and prescription drugs are in10 appropriately used together, and should be encour11 aged to consult with their doctor and pharmacist.

12 The pharmacist may have the only complete record

13 of all the medications being taken by the consumer

14 that would help avoid these problems.

15 (4) Pharmacists can help the consumer select

16 the most cost-effective OTC drug product based on

17 the symptoms presented to the pharmacist.

18 (5) Interaction with the pharmacist on using

19 OTC drug products is particularly important for

20 older Americans, who already use one-third of all

21 prescription drug products and one-third of OTC

22 drug products. As the population ages, older Ameri23 cans are expected to use almost half of all OTC drug

24 products by the year 2000. According to recent stud25 ies, the health care system, including the Medicaid
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1 and Medicare programs, incur billions of dollars in

2 unnecessary costs each year as a result of medica3 tion-related problems.

4 (6) The importance of consumer interaction

5 with the pharmacist about OTC drug products was

6 recognized by Congress when it required that Medic7 aid prospective drug utilization review programs in8 clude screening for ‘‘serious interactions with non9 prescription or OTC medications’’.

10 (7) Encouraging pharmacist interaction with

11 consumers on OTC drug products is consistent with

12 recent attempts by consumer groups, the pharmacy

13 community, and the Food and Drug Administration

14 to increase the quality and quantity of written and

15 oral information being provided to consumers with

16 their prescription medications.

17 SEC. 2. CONSULTATION.

18 It is the sense of the Senate that the Food and Drug

19 Administration should include a provision in the Adminis20 tration’s new final regulation on the content and format

21 of over-the-counter drug labels which requires that such

22 labels include the phrase ‘‘Consult your doctor or phar23 macist’’.

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