[Exquisite5]

WOW Allergies, I feel like a professional on this subject. I have suffered from allergies/asthma for all of my life. Also, last summer I had an intership with Schering Corporation in pharmaceutical sales. I was a representative for Nasonex and Claritin.

With that said, let me tell you this. Clarinex is kin to Claritin, but there is a difference in the receptor. This may or may not lead to greater efficacy, but Clarinex should at least be as good Claritin. I have not been trained on Clarinex so I don't really know, but seeing as how it is approved by the FDA I am sure it works.

Now, on to Claritin now being over the counter. Let me say this, if you have medical insurance Claritin going over the counter is not going to help you. Claritin, as a prescription drug, costs like $70.00 for a bottle, with a good health insurance plan you probably pay like %20, or around 14.00 and your insurance picks up the rest. I know first hand that as an over the counter drug the Claritin's cost will drop, probably to around $50.00 a bottle, but since it is no longer a prescription drug IT WILL NO LONGER BE ON INSURANCE COMPANIES' FORMULARIES (the list of drugs they pay for) AND THE ENTIRE $50.00 WILL BE UP TO THE CONSUMER TO PAY. With that said, if you have health insurance it will actually save you (the consumer) money to switch to Clarinex. You can pay $14.00 and make the insurance folks you pay anyway pay the rest of the money, or you can come out of pocket for $50. Don't be mad at Schering for bringing out Clarinex; be mad at the OTHER drug companies who want to profit off of Schering's invention and are pusing for non-renewal of Schering's Clarinex patent. Every other drug company now stands to make $50.00/person (and without dealing with an insurance company) by making their own imitation-Clariting generic drug and selling them all at a similar non-competitive prices (around $50.00).

Understand, generic does not mean that the price goes down to the cost of Actifed or Benadryl. It basically means that insurance companies are no longer involved. This is why insurance companeis were the main institutions lobbying for the non-renewal of the Claritin patent...insurance companies and OTHER drug companies. Now the insurance companies no longer have to pay %80 of the cost of one of the most popluar and effective drugs in America. They Win! Claritin is a 2nd generation antihistamine (i.e. non-drowsy), Actifed, Benadryl and all the rest aren't. Therefore, Claritin and its superior quality as a drug will set is market price WELL above what you pay for those!