Article: Claritin OK'd for counter sales

Claritin OK'd for counter sales

MEDICINE: Some insurers may raise co-payments for other allergy drugs such as Clarinex, Allegra and Zyrtec.

Federal regulators on Wednesday approved the nation's top-selling allergy drug, Claritin, as an over-the-counter medicine, a decision that will bring substantial savings for the uninsured and allow all patients to obtain the drug without a trip to the doctor.

The decision may raise costs for many allergy patients with insurance, however, because insurers will no longer cover most of the cost of Claritin.

Insured patients may also now pay more for other allergy medicines because some insurers say they plan to require co-payments as high as $50 for the ...

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