Title: The Health Effects of Mandatory Prescriptions
Abstract: IT is a commonplace of life in the developed world that consumers are required to secure the advice and permission of a physician before they may consume certain drugs. It was not always so, and it is not so today in many parts of the world. Others, notably Peter Temin,1 have investigated the origin of the U.S. prescription requirement and some of its costs. I will focus on the benefits-specifically, the health benefits-of this requirement. I begin with a brief summary of the relevant American history and a description of current regulatory practice in other countries. Then I outline how the regulation might be expected to affect drug-consumption decisions and, through these, the health of consumers. The bulk of the paper is devoted to an empirical investigation of health effects of prescription requirements. The investigation uses both U.S. and international data. The investigation reveals, with some twists, that there is little effect of these requirements on health. Specifically, the life-saving benefits of modern drugs do not seem to be enhanced by the prescription requirements, and the life-threatening risks from improper use of these drugs are not reduced and may even be increased by this requirement.
Publication Year: 1986
Publication Date: 1986-01-01
Language: en
Type: preprint
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