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Article: Claritin rushed to drugstore shelves
- Article from:
- The Patriot Ledger Quincy, MA
- Article date:
- December 10, 2002
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 2002 The Patriot Ledger Quincy, MA. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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Claritin, the blockbuster allergy medicine, will hit retail
shelves next week with a new identity as an over-the-counter drug.
That arrival represents a major development for allergy sufferers.
The Claritin story also reflects widespread tensions over rising
health care costs. Claritin's transition is a turning point for the
popular drug, whose sales were fueled by new consumer advertising,
then challenged by a defiant insurance company worried about
pharmaceutical spending. That conflict surfaced at the Food and
Drug Administration, which last week approved allowing the
nonsedating antihistamine to be sold without a prescription. The
Claritin switch also involved a looming patent ...