Interesting question. The FDA website first says But then it says This implies that they are available without a prescription. Amazon sells them with no mention of "Prescription Required." I just put one in my Cart and got all the way through the order process up to the final Place Order step without any hitches. Amazon only carries a few models, and none of them had detailed descriptions beyond the top-level bullet points. And none of them have any reviews (as though there have been 0 sold.) Walmart's website says But just like Amazon, there do not seem to be any such restrictions applied when you order one. It seems as though prescription enforcement is lax. The warnings against "just using one" are real. As I recall, we need a certain level of nitrogen in our air so as to properly exhale the carbon dioxide out of our systems.
That's probably similar to bottled medical oxygen. It was supposed to be available by prescription only but when I owned an ambulance company, I could send anyone over to the oxygen supply company in a private vehicle for new bottles or refills, and no questions were asked. For that matter, when I ordered nitrous oxide, no questions were asked about that either.
Interesting. Now that you mention it, I managed purchasing for a company that used a bunch of different gases: oxygen, liquid nitrogen, argon, helium, etc. We had no permits, even for storage. But that was 40 years ago. It's weird that prescriptions are required for this, yet there's no enforcement mechanism. Heck, I can't even buy OTC Sudafed without showing I.D. I don't believe in protecting ourselves from our own stupidity, but--as you know--more oxygen is not necessarily a good thing. It can be lethal.
I’m not too sure that Hal isn’t talking about respirator pumps versus the concentrated oxygen rigs. Japanese swim teams back in the 50’s used concentrated O2 and whilst it did help them win a few medals, the swimmers also found themselves with the lining of their lungs disappearing and the air sacs being virtually destroyed. I believe the term is lung or pulmonary toxicity syndrome / disorder.
Sure. I believe we should have the freedom to make our own choices and to take our own risks in our lives without a bunch of constricting laws & regulations, assuming accurate information is available. But these oxygen concentrators have hit the market and seem to be off-the-shelf products with no warnings whatsoever that you can incur physical harm by misusing them. I doubt that many people realize that messing with your oxygen/nitrogen intake can be risky....I mean, it's oxygen. Why would someone even think to be concerned? It sounds like it should be good for you. It's not like inhaling laughing gas just for the high.
By "Non-Medical" use, I was referring to "Recreational Use", such as what is practiced in public "Oxygen Bars". Hal
That's a stretch though.... A microgram of chermotherapy can kill someone.... Oxygen is millions of times more safe. Oxygen is also needed for the body, brain, and some media blitzes..... haha.... Oxygen also kills cancer cells and other bad things in the body as well.... long before it hurts anybody.
Maybe heading off on a tangent, here: I believe that face masks, combined with a feed from a portable, worn, air purifier, are the wave of the future. In city after city, the air is getting toxic to an unsettling extent. I remember my first visit to Los Angeles: I stepped outside the terminal, took a breath, and almost passed out! This was in the early 80's..... In Austin, our air is very bad, and getting worse. The daily weather reports mention "fog." The weather reporters either are told to not scare people, or the reporters, themselves, have no clue that our fairly new fog problem is, in actuality, smog from too many people driving too many cars in too little a space. A friend visited Austin, recently. She said she couldn't believe how bad our air was. She had a tough time breathing I've called on our news stations to report the stats on non-smoker lung cancer cases. So far, nothing. Gee, I wonder why Austin is consistently rated as one of the best cities in the world to start a business, and make great money doing so. While most cities in the US are experiencing slow-downs and bad times, in general, business in Austin is still booming, with new construction sites appearing everywhere. If the word gets out that our air is getting worse and worse, daily, I doubt the good times would continue. Anyway, keep checking out various portable O2 machines and air purifiers. Someday, maybe very soon, you may need a SCBA rig just to step outside your door!