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Generics at least aren't big moneymakers. With totally pedestrian insurance I pay next to nothing (or nothing) for the variety of meds that I take. Would probably cost more if I could buy them OTC.

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Given the 50 years, I'd say the original investment has paid off many times over, and all the generic brands got their cut. It's more than fair to society to allow the medicine to go over the counter.

Oh I'm not disagreeing in general. There are probably some classes of drugs like antibiotics which probably lend themselves to overuse/misuse and are probably best kept prescription only for the most part (agriculture overuse notwithstanding). But in general, if there's no good reason something shouldn't be OTC, it probably should be.

I'm just saying generic prescription drugs don't necessarily have a huge price uplift vs. OTC.

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