The Famous Cuban "Toilet Paper Shortage" article

[Xavier_Onassis]

So why is it sold as a prescription drug?

That does not seem to make any sense.

[Amianthus]

It is sold under the trade names "No Salt" and "Nu Salt" - I bought some at the local grocery store last week.

Wegman's sells it, too: http://bit.ly/dlMvkG

[Amianthus]

So why is it sold as a prescription drug?

That does not seem to make any sense.

There are numerous examples of drugs sold as prescription and over the counter. Heck, I got a prescription for aspirin and have it filled through the pharmacy so that the insurance company pays for it.

[Xavier_Onassis]

I can understand aspirin. But you can also buy aspirin OTC and as a prescription.


You cannot buy KCl tablets EXCEPT as a prescription. When I asked if they sold KCl as an OTC drug, the pharmacist reacted as though I had asked to buy opium. He was entirely unaware of any Nu-Salt or anything like that. The online stores that sell all manner of pills and stuff, do not sell KCl or anything that contains it, so far as I have found.

[Amianthus]

You cannot buy KCl tablets EXCEPT as a prescription. When I asked if they sold KCl as an OTC drug, the pharmacist reacted as though I had asked to buy opium. He was entirely unaware of any Nu-Salt or anything like that. The online stores that sell all manner of pills and stuff, do not sell KCl or anything that contains it, so far as I have found.

Ask, and ye shall receive: http://www.amazon.com/KAL-Potassium-99-Chloride-100-tablets/dp/B00014EGMI

If you have a local "Vitamin Shoppe" you can buy them there.

[Amianthus]

the pharmacist reacted as though I had asked to buy opium.

Interestingly enough, some states may still allow the sale of cough syrup with opium OTC - North Carolina was one (as of the 90s, the laws may have changed).

[Xavier_Onassis]

Interesting. The pharmacist should not have reacted as he did, then.

In suppose I will continue to get my KCl in the drugstore, since my Medicare pays for it entirely, as it is a generic drug.
What seems strange is that although it is a simple compound and no complicated research is required to produce it, it is more expensive than many other generics.

[Michael Tee]

<<What seems strange is that although it is a simple compound and no complicated research is required to produce it, it is more expensive than many other generics.>>

Maybe they require a very high grade of purity for pharmaceutical-grade KCl, just so studies are not varied from patient to patient by the presence of impurities.