Many U.S. Residents Have Problems With Cost of Prescription Drugs, Survey Finds
Many U.S. residents have problems with the cost of prescription drugs, and some reduce their dosages as a result, according to a new survey conducted by Ipsos-Public Affairs for the Associated Press, the AP/Arizona Daily Star reports. The survey, which interviewed about 1,000 U.S. adults between Feb. 16 and Feb. 18, says that most respondents take prescription drugs or have family members who take them, and of those respondents, 33% have at times had problems with the cost. Among respondents who had problems, 75% said that they often reduce their dosages as a result, the survey found. According to the survey, 65% of respondents said that the federal government should allow U.S. residents to purchase less-expensive prescription drugs from Canada or other nations, and 71% said that the government should have the authority to negotiate with pharmaceutical companies for lower prices. About 80% of respondents cited high prescription drug costs as an important issue and almost 50% said the issue is "very important" in the 2004 presidential campaign, the survey says. Further, about 52% of respondents said that Democrats are more likely to make prescription drugs more affordable, compared with 33% who said the same of Republicans. The survey has a margin of error of plus or minus three percentage points (AP/Arizona Daily Star, 2/24).
WAMU's "Kojo Nnamdi Show" on Monday reported on issues related to U.S. prescription drug prices, reimportation of medications from Canada and the new Medicare law (HR 1). The segment includes comments by James Rybacki, president of the Clearwater Group, and Jeff Trewhitt, a spokesperson for Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (Stasio, "Kojo Nnamdi Show," NPR, 2/23). The complete segment is available online in RealPlayer.
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