Medicine sans prescription

One of the things I like about Vietnam (and most third-world countries) is the ability to obtain most medications without a prescription.  To be sure, you are supposed to have one, but its absence seems to bother no one.

I think vested interests in other countries causes this serious limit on freedom.  Drug companies and doctors want people to have to incur the additional expense of getting medical approval.  They use the argument of protecting the public, and I suppose they are protecting the stupid and uninformed, and these types continue to agitate in Vietnam for restrictions.

What you do instead is limit advertising.  I would prefer they even eliminated brand names.  A trained pharmacist can deal with almost any set of symptoms the customer describes, and the government can impose rules about this to boot.  Bulk competitive buying by the state (or local manufacture if the foreigners persist in being too greedy) can do a wonder for prices too.

Today I read how metformin could extend everyone's lifespan several years.   It is a low-cost drug supposedly for type-2 diabetics and prediabetics, but it appears everyone would benefit from taking it routinely.  Of course with such mass use some side-effects would probably appear, especially with long-term use (mainly allergies), so alertness would be called for, although reading the posted comments that went with the article, I can see how some people blame anything that happens on whatever they are taking.  Such people should be allowed to die early.

There are, as I see it, two extremes in this pill-popping debate -- those who think taking medicine for what ails us is dangerous or even sinful, and those who pop whatever new nostrum shows its head making wonderful claims.  A middle path is called for.

There are of course drugs that I suppose have to be surrounded by legal safeguards -- things that can kill you and things that are addictive and things useful in suicides come to mind (although this last might be overkill since there are plenty of ordinary products that can do the job).  So safety before a product can even be marketed should be necessary.

Also, I think going through a pharmacist, who, regardless gives you what you want, but also gives you personal advice and warning, is  advisable.  And of course the doctor needs to be told.  No point in hiding things, even if he is going to lose his temper, from a professional you are paying good money to for advice.