Prescription Drugs:

A B C D E F G H I K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Always consult a doctor before purchasing or using prescription medication, even if the online pharmacy does not require a presciption to complete your purchase.

Study: Rx drug use doubles between 1999 and 2008 - Americans are taking more prescription drugs than ever. A new report from the National Center for Health Statistics finds prescription drug spending reached $234-billion in 2008. That's more than double what was spent in 1999. The new data are from 2007 and 2008, the most recent years for which information is available. During those years one out of every five children was taking at least one prescription drug, most commonly asthma drugs. 90-percent of older Americans were taking a prescription medication, mostly cholesterol drugs.

Poll: Patients Unhappy With Rx Drugs - Consumer Reports Survey Shows People Frustrated by Drug Costs and Worry About Safety. Nearly half of all Americans take at least one prescription drug on a regular basis, and they have concerns ranging from economics to safety to whether the doctor prescribing the drug is unduly influenced by pharmaceutical companies, according to a new poll. Consumer Reports National Research Center conducted the poll, in which 2,022 adults aged 18 and older were surveyed by phone in May 2010. ''Consumers are not finding out about the safety issues of drugs," says researcher John Santa, MD, MPH, director of the Consumer Reports Health Ratings Center. The poll results also suggest people are concerned about the expense of drugs, and as a result, are sometimes not taking them as prescribed. Since 2004, Santa tells WebMD, Consumer Reports has been following the prescription drug market from a consumer’s point of view, conducting surveys about prescribing practices and other factors.Among the findings:

Patients are trying to save money on drugs, sometimes in ways that could be hazardous. In the past year, 39% took action to reduce costs (such as switching to generic, a good idea in Santa's view). But 27% failed to take prescription drugs properly -- for example, taking a pill every other day instead of daily.
Average out-of-pocket cost for those on prescription drugs is $68 a month, but 14% spend more than $100 monthly.
Patients complain that doctors don't consider their ability to pay when prescribing a drug, with 51% feeling the expense isn't considered.
Even though many poll respondents took generic drugs, 43% had some misguided concerns about them, such as generics not working as well as brand-name drugs.
More than two-thirds said they think pharmaceutical companies have too much influence on a doctor's decision about which drug to prescribe. And half said their doctors are too eager to prescribe a drug rather than consider other treatment options. About 47% said they think gifts from drug companies influence doctors to prescribe specific drugs.
20% of those surveyed said they have asked their doctor for a drug they saw advertised, with 59% of doctors honoring the request.