> Only topical acne medications from a restricted list: tretinoin, adapalene, clindamycin with benzoyl peroxide, benzoyl peroxide, and azelaic acid, some combined with niacinamide or topical spironolactone. Each plan includes a morning and an evening treatment. The pilot does not include oral or systemic medications, hormonal therapies, or isotretinoin.
So it's a short list of topical creams. Several of them are already available over the counter. Benzoyl peroxide creams are on the shelf of your nearest grocery store. Some of them are available in higher strengths via prescription only and should be reserved for only severe or refractory cases after escalation. A lot of people go straight for the highest strength they can find on the shelf, so having a prescription gate for the stronger stuff can be justified.
Others on the list like tretinoin are currently prescription only. That one is a strong chemical that will burn your skin if you don't read the instructions about to apply and also makes you prone to sunburn. A lot of people don't read the instructions, they just apply the cream and see what happens. Having a provider, even if it's AI, do something to force them to understand the risks can be arguably justified. Tretinoin is also a risk to fetal development, so having a provider ask if female patients are on birth control is important. That said it is OTC in some other countries, so there's an argument that it should be OTC here as well.
The AI doctor is not allowed to prescribe anything really serious. It's a combination of prescription versions of OTC creams and a few topicals that benefit from some light provider instructions. Having a $5 option to get them with the serious cases shunted to actual doctors is not a bad tradeoff.