Nonprescription

Rep. Byron Rushing (D-Boston) has introduced a bill into the Committee on Health Care that would allow nonprescription sales and possession of needles. Massachusetts is one of 11 states in the U.S. that currently requires a prescription to purchase a needle.

Then he called his doctor and requested a sleep aid, a short-term prescription, something a little more potent than the nonprescription stuff.

The US Food and Drug Administration has approved the oral contraceptive Opill for over-the-counter use, making it the first nonprescription birth control pill in the United States, but it will be months before it’s available.