Consumer Reports recently opened their Best Buy Drugs site, which I had mentioned earlier:
The information on this website can help you learn about more affordable drug treatment options to discuss with your physician. We work with respected doctors and pharmacists to compare drugs and point you to those that are proven to work based on current scientific evidence. In concise, easy-to-read reports, we tell you what you need to know about the effectiveness, safety and cost of many widely used prescription drugs.
They have opened up with recommendations in three major drug cateories. Regarding statins:
* If you need to reduce your LDL cholesterol by less than 40%, generic lovastatin is the Consumer Reports Best Buy Drug. This medicine, costing 92 cents to $1.31 a day, is substantially less expensive than other statins at daily doses of 10mg and 20mg.
* If you need to reduce your LDL cholesterol by 40% or more, atorvastatin (Lipitor) at a dose of 20mg or 40mg a day is the Consumer Reports Best Buy Drug.
* If you have had a heart attack, have coronary heart disease or diabetes, atorvastatin (Lipitor) at a dose of 40 mg or 80 mg daily is the Consumer Reports Best Buy Drug.
* If you cannot afford the higher cost of the cholesterol-lowering medicine your doctor prescribes, talk with your doctor about generic lovastatin.
Good recommendations, nicely pointing out the only generic statin.
The site also talks about NSAIDs, with the following points:
Taking effectiveness, safety and cost into account, we have chosen two Consumer Reports Best Buy Drugs in this category:
* Generic ibuprofen at a dose of 400 mg, 600 mg or 800 mg three times a day – costing an average $24 to $30 a month.
* Generic salsalate at a dose of 750 mg three or four times a day – costing an average $24 a month.
Again, can’t argue with that. However, they could have mentioned the COX-2 preferential medications, like generic Lodine and Relafen, for those who cannot stomach ibuprofen or salsalate.
Finally, proton pump inhibitors are addressed:
* If you have no health insurance or coverage for prescription drugs, omeprazole (Prilosec OTC), at a cost of around 79 cents a day, is the Consumer Reports Best Buy Drug. This nonprescription medicine costs one-fifth as much as the next least expensive PPI and is just as likely to relieve symptoms for most people with GERD.
* If you have drug coverage, find out if your health plan provides a discount coupon for Prilosec OTC. If not, talk with you doctor about choosing the PPI that has the lowest out-of-pocket cost under your insurance plan.
Kudos with this. There really shouldn’t be any reason why anyone should buy into the Nexium hype.
Bottom line – this site is highly recommended, with a wonderful focus on generic medications. A major drug category will be added every month, and by early 2006, most of the commonly prescribed medications will be covered. It is about time that generic medications get their time to shine, without bias from the drug companies.
