CHARLESTON, W.Va. — An official with the Consumer Healthcare Products Association says prescriptions are not law enforcement mechanisms.
“We want to stop crime, but what we don’t want to do is force busy moms and dads to take time off from work to go to the doctor to access these medicines,” said Elizabeth Funderburk, Consumer Healthcare Products Association senior director for communications and public affairs.
CHPA is the national trade association for the manufacturers of over the counter pharmaceuticals.
Funderburk said her organization and others will be working against any attempts to change the law in West Virginia to require prescriptions for drugs containing pseudoephedrine, a key meth ingredient.
House Health and Human Resources Committee Chair Don Perdue has promised to introduce the legislation again during the 2014 Regular Legislative Session after it picked up House approval this year but died in the Senate on a tie vote.
If it’s approved, prescriptions would be needed for medications like Advil Cold & Sinus, Allegra D, Claritin D, Mucinex D and Sudafed.
Funderburk said people who are sick should be able to get the medicine they need when they need it. “These symptoms strike without warning and so immediate access to these medicines, it’s important,” she said.
There are already limits on purchases of medications containing pseudoephedrine in place in the Mountain State. Those sales are tracked through the real time National Precursor Log Exchange, NPLEx, which was implemented in January.
Funderburk was a guest on Wednesday’s MetroNews “Talkline.”
The 2014 Regular Legislative Session begins in January.