Flonase Steroid Nasal Spray to be OTC in 2015

GlaxoSmithKline announced in July 2014 that the FDA has approved Flonase steroid nasal spray to be made available over-the-counter (OTC) starting sometime in early 2015.

Flonase would join Nasacort which is already available for purchase OTC.

Flonase and Nasacort both are steroid nasal sprays used to treat allergies in patients. It is similar to prescription steroid nasal sprays like nasacort, nasonex, omnaris, etc. It also would be the second steroid nasal spray made OTC in the United States which can be both a blessing as well as a curse.

Why?

With Nasacort and now Flonase going OTC which will certainly make it more convenient for patients, I also anticipate that the other prescription steroid nasal sprays including omnaris, nasonex, qnasl, zetonna, veramyst, etc will become much harder to prescribe due to insurance requiring patients to use OTC nasal sprays first. Worst case, insurance may even simply stop paying for the prescription steroid nasal sprays.

After all, this is exactly what happened with prescription reflux and anti-histamine medications.

Source:
FDA Approves Flonase® Allergy Relief For Sale Over-The-Counter In The United States. MarketWatch 7/24/14.