A recent study of direct-to-consumer offers on the Internet found that the value of introductory drug offers is low when you compare it with the retail cost to continue buying the brand-name medicine. Plus, in many cases, a generic equivalent isn’t yet available. The research was led by Dr. William G. Weppner of the University of Washington Department of Medicine and the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Boise, Idaho. The results of the study were published this week in Archives of Internal Medicine.

What’s possibly worse than the money factor is that researchers found that info on efficacy, safety and side effects wasn’t emphasized like the prominent free offer. Remember, the consumer websites of pharmaceutical companies are generally constructed to benefit the drug company by increasing sales. Researchers noted that in the study, quantitative info on the medication’s risks, indications for use and effectiveness was rarely presented. They suggest further studies to determine if free drug offers distract or even divert readers from viewing risk info.

The drug discount study calculated the mean yearly retail cost for medications as $1,559, while the total yearly value of the free sample vouchers had a mean average of $86. The coupon usually covered only around 5% of the yearly drug bill. According to the study authors, “… patients and consumers [when they take advantage of online drug discounts or samples] may be poorly served by risk information that is not well-presented, and misled by a discount whose true value is only a small fraction of the true cost for a prescription with no generic alternative.”

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Drug e-Samples, Discounts Not Great Deals

Dr. Aaron Keeselheim of Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston found that contrary to the belief, of some doctors and patients that the costly brand-name drugs are no more effective than the generic drugs.

There have been 30 studies since 1984 comparing the two types of cardiovascular drugs. The findings of the studies were that there weren’t any advantages to the brand-name drugs.

In a interview Dr. Kesselheim said, "if a patient is prescribed a generic drug they should be confident in taking it." The doctor also stated "that doctors should feel confident in prescribing the generic drugs,"

Pharmaceutical companies retain exclusive rights to drugs they develop for a certain number of years, after which others can sell generic versions that are chemically equivalent. The active ingredient is the same, but the color and shape may differ and they may have different inert binders and fillers.

In the United States, the Food and Drug Administration must approve a generic version of a drug before it can be sold.

Dr. Kesselheim said cardiovascular drugs to treat conditions of the heart and blood vessels are the most commonly prescribed category.

You will find more interesting facts about these drugs, by clicking on the name Dr. Kesselheim.

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