CPAP without prescription

I just noticed Amazon lists several new CPAP machines by Apex Medical, supposedly available without a prescription. How can that be? I thought a prescription was required except for buying used machines.

Johnny Row wrote:I just noticed Amazon lists several new CPAP machines by Apex Medical, supposedly available without a prescription. How can that be? I thought a prescription was required except for buying used machines.

Amazon represents and sells for other companies and manufacturers. The RX thing is a federal requirement but perhaps the represented seller falls through some crack.
CN

Johnny Row wrote:supposedly available without a prescription

Yes, that is an assumption on your part. The seller may contact you for the prescription before shipment.

Do you object to selling without a prescription? Why would you think we should be required to have a prescription? The regulation restricts our freedom to treat our health.

Johnny Row wrote:I just noticed Amazon lists several new CPAP machines by Apex Medical, supposedly available without a prescription. How can that be? I thought a prescription was required except for buying used machines.

No. Only from DME-type sellers. Doesn't apply to individuals. But, even DME sellers would need to adhere to prescription rules for used machines.
And, there may be some "grey-market" sellers that are getting around the requirements (with new machines).
Some machines may have "walked out" of the back door of some DME shops. Lots of potential reasons.

I purchased seven of my machines from private/individual sellers. No Rx required. Four of them had 10 blower hours or less, so essentially new/unused. The four (new ones) were from http://www.cpap.com


Den

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Wulfman, I just checked cpap dot com and it says Rx required for machine or mask. I'm curious how you were able to purchase there w/o RX.

Johnny Row wrote:Wulfman, I just checked cpap dot com and it says Rx required for machine or mask. I'm curious how you were able to purchase there w/o RX.

Sorry if I wasn't clear.
All the machines (masks and accessories) I've purchased from http://www.cpap.com were on my prescription which I uploaded to them on April 25th, 2005. (12 years ago tomorrow, actually)
But, the ones I purchased from individuals were all without Rx. If they would have required one, I could have furnished it.


Den

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Hi Folks,
I was curious so I went to the Amazon link. The ad was for a machine offered by Neuroscience Medical and so I fired off a question to them. Do I need a Doctor's prescription?

Their cryptic reply was:
"No, you don't need to. This is an auto cpap and will find the correct therapy for you to open up your airway. Thanks!"

I'd bet the fine for selling machines without Rx is minimal and profit more then makes up for it.

I actually resent having to get MD Rx. CPAP machines in many countries don't need prescription. I suspect it's an AMA thing.
CN

CarpeNoctum wrote:Hi Folks,
I was curious so I went to the Amazon link. The ad was for a machine offered by Neuroscience Medical and so I fired off a question to them. Do I need a Doctor's prescription?

Their cryptic reply was:
"No, you don't need to. This is an auto cpap and will find the correct therapy for you to open up your airway. Thanks!"

I'd bet the fine for selling machines without Rx is minimal and profit more then makes up for it.

I actually resent having to get MD Rx. CPAP machines in many countries don't need prescription. I suspect it's an AMA thing.
CN

Actually, it's the FDA.

https://www.fda.gov/MedicalDevices/Devi ... /Overview/


Den

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CarpeNoctum wrote: Their cryptic reply was:
"No, you don't need to. This is an auto cpap and will find the correct therapy for you to open up your airway. Thanks!"

I'd bet the fine for selling machines without Rx is minimal and profit more then makes up for it.

That pressure setting thing probably is the reason the FDA wants prescriptions.
Time for them to revisit this requirement.

Yes, it's an FDA thing. The FDA does not appear to regulate sales of used medical items. Most of that is managed (or not managed at all) by individual states. How the place on Amazon gets by is because nobody has called them on it (yet) is my guess.

wrote:That pressure setting thing probably is the reason the FDA wants prescriptions.
Time for them to revisit this requirement.

I doubt the FDA has even thought about the prescription requirement in 25 years. Some team wrote the regulations years ago, and the prescription requirement seemed like a good idea at the time.

Government doesn't negotiate with its customers (us).

Me again,
Back to my comment regarding the AMA. I'll freely admit that I'm only an amatuer conspiracy theorist, but the AMA is a powerful lobbying agency. Pause to consider how much money the medical community (MDs) would lose if cpap equipment didn't need an Rx. Add to that prosthetic equipment and supplies, and supplemental oxygen equipment...to say nothing of drug prescriptions.

Yes, it may be the FDA that our gear falls under...but I'll bet they received plenty of pressure from the AMA.
CN

I am curious what the harm would be if people could just buy and use CPAP equipment w/o the need for a prescription? I think that treatments might not be as effective as possible, but it would be a rare case where harm would come from self treating with CPAP. Especially if a quality monitoring software came with the CPAP like sleepyhead and full data machine so centrals could be moderated. But the status quo of government and the AMA is that U.S. residents are too damn stupid to be allowed to self treat medical conditions. I can not see that changing.

TASmart wrote:I am curious what the harm would be if people could just buy and use CPAP equipment w/o the need for a prescription? I think that treatments might not be as effective as possible, but it would be a rare case where harm would come from self treating with CPAP. Especially if a quality monitoring software came with the CPAP like sleepyhead and full data machine so centrals could be moderated. But the status quo of government and the AMA is that U.S. residents are too damn stupid to be allowed to self treat medical conditions. I can not see that changing.

It was probably an issue when the only thing available was straight pressure machines with no data. Perhaps we can lobby for apap to be removed from the requirement?

Oh, I agree with you. To use another example: patients who take control of their diabetes do much better than the average diabetic. Unfortunately, they are not the majority. Most don't really want to change their lifestyle, test more than the number of strips their insurance allows, or cut their carbs. I know. I have seen this regularly in my extended family. So, you can't blame the whole problem on AMA.

If CPAP machines were over the counter items, insurance and medicare would no longer cover them. Personally, I think the effort it takes to get a prescription is worth saving around $1800 on my machine. I did purchase a backup machine from a private individual that had zero hours on it.