karenintx - 6-13-2010 at 06:52 PM
I see a trip to the farmacia really soon!
http://www.latimes.com/features/health/la-fg-mexico-antibiot...
Second try...hope it works the time...sorry!
By Ken Ellingwood and Cecilia Sanchez, Los Angeles Times
June 14, 2010
E-mail Print Share Text Size la-fg-mexico-antibiotics-20100614
Reporting from Mexico City —
The instructions aren't on any box of medicine, but Mexicans know them all the same: At the first sign of sore throat or fever, race to the pharmacy
for antibiotics. Take as you see fit.
Even though the law requires a prescription for antibiotics, pharmacists in Mexico seldom ask for one before handing them over. And they hand them
over by the boatload: nearly 2 billion doses of antibiotics a year, enough for two full courses of treatment for almost each of the nation's 110
million people.
Such handy access is easier than schlepping to the doctor or a crowded public clinic. But Mexican health officials fear so much self-medication poses
a threat to public health by discouraging real medical care and promoting the development of bacteria that resist treatment by antibiotics.
So, in a big shift, authorities here have announced a crackdown on all the self-prescribed penicillin-popping. Under rules that take effect in August,
pharmacies will face tighter oversight and stricter disclosure requirements to make sure they sell antibiotics only to patients with prescriptions.
Violators face fines of up to $15,000 and possible closure.
"This is a culture we have to eradicate," said Miguel Angel Toscano, who runs COFEPRIS, Mexico's equivalent of the Food and Drug Administration.
"People need to learn that antibiotics are for urgent medical uses, only for serious cases."
By law, prescriptions were already needed to buy antibiotics. But as with many legal requirements in Mexico, enforcement is lax and the rule usually
flouted. Antibiotics such as penicillin and ciprofloxacin are essentially sold over the counter — just place your order and pay at the register.
Compliance is also a big question mark for the newly announced measures, which reflect growing worry worldwide over excessive antibiotics use.
The issue took on added urgency in Mexico after the country's unnerving bout last year with the H1N1 virus, which authorities say was needlessly
deadly here because of rampant self-medication.
Many people infected with the flu virus first treated themselves with antibiotics, then went to the doctor only after it was too late. Nearly 1,000
people died.
Officials spent months negotiating an agreement with pharmacy associations, drug makers and distributors on the prescription requirement and other
rules governing antibiotics.
Mexico's health secretary, Jose Angel Cordova, said the drug companies resisted at first, but signed on after officials simplified proposed rules. "We
reached a very amicable, very reasonable agreement," Cordova said when the accord was announced last month.
Some people are already grumbling at the prospect of having to fight traffic and endure hours-long waits at health clinics in order to consult a
doctor. (Some pharmacies keep a physician on duty.)
"A lot of times we don't have time to go to the doctor and leave work and it's easier to come to the pharmacy," said Francisco Garcia, a 62-year-old
government worker shopping at a Mexico City pharmacy. "Of course if it's serious, you go to the doctor."
Some pharmacy owners worry the prescription requirement will crimp earnings from antibiotics, the second-biggest-selling item among Mexico's roughly
25,000 pharmacies.
At Santa Rosa Pharmacy in southern Mexico City, for example, antibiotics account for 40% of sales. Most are sold without a prescription.
"I don't want to imagine when we start refusing people medicine," owner Alfonso Diaz said.
Diaz said buyers might instead shop for antibiotics on Mexico's black market, already bursting with pirated clothing, DVDs and computer software, and
little bothered by law enforcement.
The new rules could also hurt the scores of pharmacies that saturate Tijuana and other spots on the U.S. border, catering to Americans who troop over
to buy cut-rate medications.
"This is going to cause some pharmacies to fail. It's going to be unsustainable, unless they're pharmacies that sell on the illegal market," said
Toscano of COFEPRIS.
Enforcement will fall mainly to local health inspectors in Mexico's 31 states and Mexico City, which is officially a federal district. Success could
hinge on whether policing efforts fall prey to graft.
But Toscano said his agency had been granted extra clout to keep pharmacies in line. And having the agreement of pharmacy groups and companies should
help boost compliance, he said.
In addition, Mexican doctors will receive new training on using antibiotics. A study this year by Mexico's National Public Health Institute found that
in nine of 10 cases, antibiotics sold were not needed, suggesting that physicians often prescribe them improperly.
The prescription rule sounded reasonable to Cristina Romero, a 21-year-old student. But she wondered about negative side effects — and not the
upset-stomach kind.
"People should understand that they shouldn't self-medicate, that it's for their own health," Romero said. "I only hope it works and doesn't lend
itself to more corruption."
ken.ellingwood@latimes.com
Sanchez is a news assistant in The Times' Mexico City bureau.
Copyright © 2010, The Los Angeles Times
[Edited on 6-14-2010 by karenintx]
irenemm - 6-13-2010 at 06:56 PM
It was to be effective in April. Maybe sales did not peak so they change the date.
I have not tried to buy any because of the April deadline.
someone will always sell them to you. Maybe not Costco.
noproblemo2 - 6-13-2010 at 07:07 PM
I thought this was already in effect, guess there is still time to stock-up
[Edited on 6-14-2010 by noproblemo2]
DianaT - 6-13-2010 at 09:17 PM
In some places like Algodones they write a prescription on the spot for the medication.
dtbushpilot - 6-13-2010 at 10:10 PM
Walked into the farmacia in Ensenada last week and stocked up on Penicillin and amoxicillin, no qx asked....dt
Cypress - 6-14-2010 at 05:38 AM
Good move. The abuse of antibiotics is the reason we have drug resistant strains of bacteria. Old antibiotics can be degraded and not have their full
power, thereby allowing some bacteria to survive and have a tolerance for them.
karenintx - 6-14-2010 at 07:07 AM
Not only is the abuse of antibiotics one of the reasons for drug resistant strains of bacteria but the other leading reason is when a doctor does
prescribe an antibiotic...as soon as a patietnt starts feeling good they stop taking the Rx.
After working in the dental surgical field for 30 years...I have seen the benefit of how medicine works when used properly...both "Eastern &
Western medicine". I am also glad that I have a physican back in Houston that understands I live in Mexico for nine months of the year and is happy
to advise me via the phone what medicine and miligrams I should go buy at the famarcia here in CSL. Hate to think I will have to go to a new doctor
in CSL to get the Rx.
Also helps that my physician in Houston is from Juaraz...came to the USA legally with her family at the age of 10, so she is very familar with Mexico
and the culture.
[Edited on 6-14-2010 by karenintx]