I understand that some medicines and diagnostic tools are dangerous and complex, and so not everyone should be in control of them completely. However, I want to know if better over-the-counter medicines, for example, would be sufficient to help put patients in control of their own treatment without the need to go to a cold, germ-filled environment. Why can't patients find what they need at a store? Why not make medicine and tools safer so patients can help themselves? This question and topic is open for discussion and hopefully change the rigid and confining standards of healthcare.
Medicine is controlled primarily to ensure patient safety, effectiveness, and accountability. It is required because patients often lack sufficient knowledge about medicines, their side effects, and adverse reactions. However, OTC medicines are available for patients, which can be purchased without a prescription. Patients are not fully in control of helping or treating themselves because proper diagnosis is necessary, and diseases cannot be accurately identified through just a few symptoms and signs.
The problem is mainly cultural. Patients are rarely prepared to make fully autonomous decisions in treatment in spite of many years of promoting autonomy as one of the fundamental, mental medical ethics. The reality is most patients are uncomfortable making clinical decisions for themselves. The enormous technical knowledge required takes decades to accumulate. The doctor/patient relationship is one that makes most people feel more assured, although there are the all too obvious exceptions
Medical ethics and law are some of the oldest codified systems known, dating back at least 4000 years. It is easy to be cynical about the regulation of medicine and it is correct that regulation has been used to create exclusive areas of practice to maintain high incomes, most regulation today is about safety.
It is quite ironic that OTC medicines are often more dangerous than those on prescription only.
I have added a set of lecture notes which may be of interest.
How about making the delivery of healthcare more easier and cleaner? Like, instead of going to the hospital to get laboratory tests done, why not really useful "self-test kits" that can be purchased at a pharmacy without a prescription? They have those self test kits for HIV tests and COVID-19 tests. Why not for other diseases? For example, designing a self test kit for tracing bacterial, viral, and fungal, etc diseases? Why the need for hospitalization when the work can be done at home?