The Food and Drug Administration approved three drugs on Friday to switch from prescription status to being available over the counter: GlaxoSmithKline's (NYSE: GSK) Voltaren Arthritis Pain and two related allergy drugs from Alcon (NYSE: ALC).
The switch, which is typically initiated by the manufacturer, will likely come with a lower cost for the medications, but the companies hope to make up for it with higher volume since patients can walk into a pharmacy and get the medications off the shelf without seeing a doctor. Over the years, many pain, allergy, and heartburn drugs have made the switch after the FDA became more comfortable with their safety.
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