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+--- Thread: Why is a prescription required? (/Thread-Why-is-a-prescription-required)
Why is a prescription required? - FrankNichols - 08-23-2016
Just curious why a prescription is required for a CPAP machine? Is it simply to allow companies to charge $800 for $50 worth of machine by calling it medical equipment? Or is the therapy in some way dangerous?
I was just reading another thread about how to know if you have Sleep Apnea, and if you can't afford a sleep study most everything else is just a hint or a guess. The other option would seem to be to get a cheap used machine from some source where strangers sell things to each other - not to mention any names - and sterilize it and try it. I expect if you set the pressure to around 5 or 6 it will not provide much therapy for most people and will give you an indication of your untreated AHI. From there you do what the rest of us are doing and hope it works.
Or, other than the legal issues with using or recommending use of a piece of MEDICAL equipment without a doctors approval - are there in fact potential dangers?
Inquiring minds want to know.
RE: Why is a prescription required? - DariaVader - 08-23-2016
IMO there are valid reasons to keep it prescription. First there are different forms of apnea and cpap can make complex or central worse. Someone with medical knowledge *should* be watching the data (the fact that they often don't not withstanding) If it is not a medical treatment, people who need help with that will have a harder time getting that help.
In addition, there are common side effects of CPAP - effects on eyes, ears, and even kidneys and circulation that *should* be monitored by a physician and weighed with other issues.
We need our Drs to be more aware of CPAP and its benefits and risks, not less.
That said, it is certainly being treated as a cash cow. and that should not be happening.
RE: Why is a prescription required? - FrankNichols - 08-23-2016
(08-23-2016, 05:24 PM)DariaVader Wrote: That said, it is certainly being treated as a cash cow. and that should not be happening.
I am going to behave and not post the rant about for-profit medicine I had all planned for this reply
Interesting your mentioning the potential side effects, I do believe I am having some ear issues but we are not sure yet and I can't get a referral to an ENT until my primary care physician has run enough tests to finance her new BMW.
RE: Why is a prescription required? - srlevine1 - 08-23-2016
A prescription is usual and customary for all medical devices classified by the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) and there are certain cardiology and pulmonary contraindications for the use of a CPAP device in specific medical conditions that may only be determined by diagnosis by trained medical professionals.
Example: individuals with pneumothorax, congestive heart failure, asthma, COPD, pulmonary edema, pneumonia, upper bowel bleeding, etc. need to consult medical professionals before embarking on CPAP therapy.
So, yes there are dangers -- many unlikely to occur in otherwise healthy individuals, but then again, you just don't know without a medical evaluation.
RE: Why is a prescription required? - srlevine1 - 08-23-2016
(08-23-2016, 05:24 PM)DariaVader Wrote: That said, it is certainly being treated as a cash cow. and that should not be happening.
What really ticks me off is that the U.S. government no longer appears to promote competition by sanctioning companies that demand that their products be sold at the MSRP (Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price) or lose their source of supply.
RE: Why is a prescription required? - Sleeprider - 08-23-2016
CPAP and other variations are FDA Class II respiratory devices. If that classification would be removed, then there would be more consequences than just the requirement for prescriptions. We would lose the standards for quality control, testing and research that goes into the machines. They would become cheaper, on an open market, but you couldn't necessarily rely on the accuracy, testing and quality you now assume. Any company could manufacture a similar blower, and provided they didn't infringe on patents (when did that stop the Chinese), they could mass produce and sell machines without restriction or quality oversight.
Just sayin'
RE: Why is a prescription required? - FrankNichols - 08-23-2016
(08-23-2016, 05:59 PM)srlevine1 Wrote:(08-23-2016, 05:24 PM)DariaVader Wrote: That said, it is certainly being treated as a cash cow. and that should not be happening.
What really ticks me off is that the U.S. government no longer appears to promote competition by sanctioning companies that demand that their products be sold at the MSRP (Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price) or lose their source of supply.
I am biting my tongue here... lets not go there
RE: Why is a prescription required? - PoolQ - 08-23-2016
Reasonable question. IMHO if, and this is a big if, we could get the same equipment and you knew you would get to the doctor for the side issues as fast as you would with using a sleep doctor, then it is not dangerous.
That said I do not believe a word of it, I think the market would be flooded with crap product and late night ads. I think doctors would resist telling people to go buy a product that they know nothing about, legal exposure. Personally I would be on the wrong machine since when I started I thought I needed ASV for some unknown reason.
Measuring the worth of something is a strange process. Anyone that has bought a new car knows that they lose $1,000's in value as soon as you drive it off the lot, but hey-I wanted it. Pay $800 for a medical device that could save my life and it's hey I've been robbed by the money grubbing medical industry.
Point being-we over pay for many things. Is it expensive insurance, yep sure the heck is-is my life worth more than my house or car, well I hope so and I sure want my Doctor to know more than a contractor or mechanic.
Is my being able to sleep again worth $1,200 for something that should cost $249, well if that's what it costs then yes sleeping is worth it. Do I want the cost of health care to come down? Yes as long as the quality stays up.
Off my soap box for now.
RE: Why is a prescription required? - Ghost1958 - 08-23-2016
Nobody has ever been able to cite cpap use as harming anyone. Nor a single death attributed to Cpap use.
Simple really. Follow the money.
No other reason.
RE: Why is a prescription required? - icyura10 - 08-23-2016
If you go back far enough, aspirin required a prescription to acquire it.
To many doctors I know have claimed aspirin is one of the more dangerous products over the counter products on the market for entirely to many reasons.
So I'm not sure I have a really good perception of whether ?pap's should or should not be only available via Rx.