>> Debbie wrote- >> "Switching from one medication to another, less >> expensive one due to prescription drug plan >> restrictions may produce some unwanted side effects, >> especially for older Americans. A new survey shows >> that more than one in five American adults over 50 >> have been prescribed or switched to a lower cost >> substitute, but 13% of them said the new drug was >> ineffective in treating their condition...
>Erik Wrote >"The survey, commissioned by Project Patient Care and conducted by >Harris Interactive, suggests that drug plan formularies may have a >negative impact on the health of Americans who rely on prescription >drugs." > >The article doesn't give anywhere near enough details to establish the >credibility or accuracy of this "survey". Do you have any evidence to >support the quality of information from "Harris Interactive" surveys? Quickly without full brain complement- I can only help a bit anectdotally to give a bit of possible perspective with some drug names that might be common- Celebrex and Vioxx- both in the same family of drugs for arthritis (basic working mechanism) and came out around the same time, both considered out of the normal "formulary basic covered drugs", usually with a high/higher copay. Oddly enough one has more side effects than the other, and that one is usually listed in more formularies/the other is excluded or higher copay. IIRC, when Viagra came out I seem to recall there was another drug again in the same family that was less expensive with higher side effects. Some of the drug companies wanted to put the cheaper one in the formularies- until people started dying. Dee _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
