Their View: Don’t Make Cold Medicine Tough For Consumers To Get
2.27.15 -David From and Eric Peterson,The Rockford Register Star
With cold and flu season in full swing, many Americans are for the first time facing some of Obamacare’s most onerous provisions. For many, this means navigating through the costs and benefits of an expensive new plan and the prospect of having to get a new doctor — even though President Barack Obama promised that Americans could keep plans and doctors they liked.
While the federal government has been increasing red tape around Americans’ health care system, Illinois legislators are signaling that they will follow the actions of some other states that have also been getting into the act by passing restrictions that have proved harmful to consumers.
Specifically, some in the General Assembly will be trying again this year to replicate legislation in states such as Oregon and Mississippi that have placed burdensome regulations on the purchase and sale of pseudoephedrine, a key ingredient to many common cold and allergy medicines. This ingredient, a decongestant, is key to medicines, such as Claritin-D and Sudafed, which have long been providing relief to Americans who are temporarily under the weather.
Advocates of consumer choice are watching closely; the Legislature is expected to consider mandating that all medicines containing pseudoephedrine no longer be available over-the-counter but instead only with a prescription from a doctor.
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