The United States Food and Drug Administration recently considered a policy to transfer inhaled short-acting bronchodilators to over-the-counter status if conditions of safe use can be established. The American Thoracic Society filed a comment in opposition to the proposal. This article examines the negative consequences that might result from allowing nonprescription access to bronchodilators and other inhaled asthma medications. Such a proposed policy change conflicts directly with current guidelines for asthma management and would undermine efforts to achieve adequate asthma control in patients. In addition, a policy change to convert asthma medications to over-the-counter status could result in increased costs to patients as well as increased health care costs to society overall due to a worsening of asthma control in the population.
Keywords: asthma treatment; health policy; over-the-counter medications.