Most Adults Prefer Older Medications, Survey Says

May 7, 2005

07 May 2005 Medical News Today

Most US adults prefer older medications that have remained on the

market for at least 10 years over newer treatments, regardless of

cost, according to a survey released on Thursday by pharmacy benefit

manager... Medco Health Solutions, the Bergen Record reports. The

survey, conducted in March, included responses from 1,092 adults with

health insurance. According to the survey:

Almost 70% of respondents said that they prefer older medications,

compared with 16% who said that they prefer newer treatments and 16%

who said that they were unsure.

About 31% of respondents said that older medications are safer than

newer treatments, 14% said that newer medications are safer and the

remainder said they believed older and newer medications are equally

safe or had no opinion.

About 33% of respondents said they believe newer medications are more

effective than older treatments, while 11% said they believe older

medications are more effective.

About 60% of respondents said that they are somewhat or very

knowledgeable about generic medications.

About 86% of respondents said that they would use generic medications

for common health problems such as headaches or allergies, and 46%

said that they would use generic treatments for severe health

problems such as cancer.

More than half of respondents said that health insurers should cover

prescription weight-loss medications, compared with 36% who said that

they should cover erectile dysfunction medications and 31% who said

that they should cover hair-loss prevention treatments.

Glen Stettin, vice president for clinical programs for Medco, said

that " there's probably an opportunity to connect the dots between

older medications, which they view as safer, and generic medications,

which happen to be older medications " (Krauskopf, Bergen Record,

5/5).

Reprinted with permission from kaisernetwork.org kaisernetwork.org.

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