These suggestions have included antihypertensive agents, cholesterol-lowering drugs, antidiabetic drugs, treatments for osteoporosis, topical agents for the treatment of herpes lesions, problems of the stomach and intestines, asthma treatments, and oral contraceptives. OTC availability means that consumers have easy access to certain drugs that can be used with acceptable safety, for conditions that consumers can self-treat without the help of a health care practitioner. More than 100,000 OTC drug products, including more than 800 active ingredients and covering more than 100 therapeutic categories or classes, are available to consumers. The American public should have access to the best possible medications. This includes the medications that are available in the OTC marketplace.
People are different, and their response to individual drugs can vary.
Drugs that are more effective may also have more side effects. In general, the Agency has permitted OTC marketing of drugs when there is sufficient information to establish that they are effective and acceptably safe for OTC use. Consumers can then determine the product that works best for them. Companies may also periodically discontinue marketing of an older product, e.g. for commercial reasons.