# Pharmaceutical Freedom (with Jessica Flanigan) **URL:** **By** Trevor Burrus **Published:** June 8, 2018 --- We discuss the rights of self-medication; rights to purchase and use unapproved treatments, prohibited drugs, and pharmaceuticals without a prescription. This week Jessica Flanigan joins us to discuss the rights of self-medication; rights to purchase and use unapproved treatments, prohibited drugs, and pharmaceuticals without a prescription. As Jessica describes in her most recent publication in [Cato Unbound](https://www.cato-unbound.org/2017/07/10/jessica-flanigan/respect-patients-choices-self-medicate), “For most patients, rights of self-medication needn’t change how they make medical decisions. After all, rights of self-medication do not preclude patients from consulting with physicians or using only government-certified drugs. But if patients had rights of self-medication they would be free to make intimate and personal decisions about their bodies that reflected their values rather than the values of a physician or public official.” ### Further Readings/References: [Pharmaceutical Freedom: Why Patients Have a Right to Self Medicate](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0190684542/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_x_6H2DzbVV6CA4S) Book by Jessica Flanigan More about [Jessica Flanigan](https://www.cato-unbound.org/contributors/jessica-flanigan) [Respect Patients’ Choices to Self-Medicate by Jessica Flanigan](https://www.cato-unbound.org/2017/07/10/jessica-flanigan/respect-patients-choices-self-medicate)