Public Doubts the Pharmaceutical Industry's Willingness to Publish Safety Info

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Jan 18, 2005 18:35 ET

 

The Public Has Doubts About the Pharmaceutical Industry's

Willingness to Publish Safety Information about Their Drugs in a

Timely Manner

 

Recent reports of potentially dangerous side effects of certain

drugs have led many patients to reevaluate their treatment options

or change their behavior

 

ROCHESTER, N.Y., Jan. 18 /PRNewswire/ -- In the wake of the

publicity surrounding the potentially harmful side effects of a

variety of pain medications, the American public is skeptical about

the willingness of drug companies to publish data about their

products in a timely manner causing many patients to worry about the

dangers of taking medication and to change or reconsider their

treatment options.

 

 

Three in five (60%) U.S. adults are not very confident or not at all

confident that drug companies will publish any information they have

about the side effects of any of their drugs as soon as they have

that information. This skepticism appears to be widespread among all

age groups, with the exception of adults aged 18-24 who are split on

the issue (47% confident/very confident vs. 47% not very/not at all

confident).

 

 

Two-thirds (66%) of U.S. adults report taking one or more

prescription medications regularly to treat a chronic medical

condition, while nearly a third (29%) of all adults report taking an

over-the-counter medication on a regular basis for chronic pain. As

a result of recent reports of potentially dangerous side effects

related to some frequently used prescription drugs such as Vioxx,

Celebrex and Naproxen, one in five (20%) adults who regularly take

prescription or over-the-counter medication have worried, more than

they used to, about the dangers of these drugs. These reports have

also prompted many adults who take prescription or over-the-counter

drugs regularly to react in some way. Reactions include:

 

 

* Looking for information about the side effects of one or more

drugs

from some other sources (15%);

* Talking to a doctor about the risks and side effects of drugs

they were

taking (13%);

* Stopping the use of one or more prescription drugs (13%);

* Switching to using another prescription drug (6%);

* Stopping the use of one or more over-the-counter medications

(5%);

* Switching to using an over-the-counter drug which can be bought

without

a prescription (4%);

* Or reducing the dose for a prescription drug they were taking

(4%).

 

 

These are some of the results of a Harris Interactive® poll of

2,404 U.S. adults conducted online between January 5 and 7, 2005 for

the Wall Street Journal Online's Health Industry Edition.

 

 

TABLE 1

 

 

USE OF MAINTENANCE DRUGS FOR CHRONIC MEDICAL CONDITIONS " Has a

doctor prescribed any prescription drugs for you to regularly treat

any

 

 

of the following medical conditions? "

Base: All Adults

 

All Adults Age

18-24 25-29 30-39 40-49 50-

64 65+

% % % % %

% %

Regularly take

prescription

medication (NET) 66 47 48 54 68

78 89

High blood pressure

(hypertension) 25 1 1 10 22

44 54

High cholesterol 19 2 1 6 16

33 44

Depression 16 17 17 14 17

17 14

Allergies 14 21 14 16 14

11 12

Arthritis 12 1 1 7 11

16 30

Diabetes 8 1 1 5 6

14 16

Asthma 8 7 8 7 8

9 8

Migraine headaches 7 7 9 11 8

4 2

Chronic back pain 6 1 3 6 7

8 9

Any other medical

condition 23 11 20 21 25

21 34

No doctor has prescribed

any prescription drugs

for me to regularly

treat any medical

condition 34 53 52 46 32

22 11

 

Note: Multiple-response question.

 

 

TABLE 2

USE OF OVER-THE-COUNTER PAIN MEDICATIONS

" Do you take an over-the-counter (non-prescription) pain medication

on a

 

regular basis for arthritis, chronic back pain or some other form of

chronic

 

 

pain? "

Base: All Adults

 

All Adults Age

18-24 25-29 30-39 40-49 50-

64 65+

% % % % %

% %

Yes, take over-the-counter

pain medication on a

regular basis 29 22 19 31 33

30 29

No, do not 71 78 81 69 67

70 71

 

 

TABLE 3

 

CONCERNS ABOUT SAFETY OF PRESCRIPTION MEDICINES AND PAIN

RELIEVERS " There have been recent reports of potentially dangerous

side effects related

 

 

to some frequently used prescription drugs such as Vioxx, Celebrex

and

Naproxen. As a result of these results, have you . . .? "

Base: Regularly take prescription medication or take OTC

medication on a

regular basis for arthritis or other chronic pain

 

Total

%

 

Worried, more than you used to, about the dangers of

taking prescription or over-the-counter drugs 20

Looked for information about the side effects of one

or more drugs from some other sources 15

Talked to a doctor about the risks and side effects

of drugs you were taking 13

Stopped using one or more prescription drugs 13

Switched to using another prescription drug 6

Stopped taking one or more over-the-counter medications 5

Switched to using an over-the-counter drug which can

be bought without a prescription 4

Reduced the dose for a prescription drug you were taking 4

None of these 60

 

Note: Multiple-response question.

 

 

TABLE 4

CONFIDENCE IN DRUG COMPANIES TO PUBLISH TIMELY INFORMATION ON SIDE

EFFECTS

 

" How confident are you that drug companies will publish any

information they

 

 

have about the side effects of any of their drugs as soon as they

have that

 

 

information? "

Base: All Adults

 

All Adults Age

18-24 25-29 30-39 40-49 50-

64 65+

% % % % %

% %

Very confident/Confident

(NET) 35 47 42 35 34

30 32

Very confident 5 6 2 5 7

7 3

Confident 30 41 40 30 27

23 29

Not very /Not at all

confident 60 47 54 59 60

66 64

Not very confident 42 39 41 43 45

46 38

Not at all confident 17 9 13 16 15

21 26

Not sure 5 5 4 6 6

4 4

 

Note: Percentages may not add up exactly to 100% due to rounding.

 

Downloadable PDFs of Wall Street Journal Online/Harris

Interactive

Health-Care Polls are posted at

http://www.harrisinteractive.com/news/newsletters_wsj.asp.