They’re Peddling 8 Prescription Drugs in a Home Emergency Kit

MrConsumer was taken aback when he saw a nationally televised commercial by The Wellness Company selling an emergency kit containing eight prescription drugs that you keep at home just in case you need them at 2 a.m. when pharmacies and doctors’ offices are closed.

You get bottles of these eight prescription drugs to self-treat conditions such as parasites, strep, pneumonia, lyme disease, bacterial infections, GI and urinary tract infections, and more.

To get the kit, you have to fill out a health form, and have a brief consultation with a health professional at the company who can write the prescription.

Once you get the kit, how exactly do you diagnose yourself with these conditions? They give you a handy booklet about what to use each drug for, or you can speak to a health-care professional at their company during regular business hours for an extra fee, presumably.

And how much does this kit cost? $299.

*MOUSE PRINT:

In their FAQ section they reveal a key fact:

To the best of our knowledge, no state pharmacy boards or consumer authorities have taken legal action against the company because what they are doing may not be outside current medical, legal, and ethical guidelines. One state pharmacy board reportedly denied a drugstore’s request to carry a similar kit in their store.

Some things are very unsettling about this whole proposition:

Shouldn’t new conditions be diagnosed first by a doctor, rather than having patients read a booklet to self-diagnose and self-medicate, perhaps incorrectly, in the middle of the night?

Should doctors and pharmacies be allowed to prescribe and dispense packages of drugs on the speculation that someday they might come in handy, particularly knowing that some patients may self-medicate without proper diagnosis or medical follow-up?

Can’t purchasers of these kits wait until 8 a.m. the next day to call their doctor to get a real diagnosis or prescription?

How many of these drugs will expire before use and wind up being a big waste of money?

Why haven’t state or federal medical authorities stepped in to regulate sales of kits like these?

Please offer your thoughts in the comments.