Press
Recent News Releases (in chronological order)
Unbound Medicine, ASHP, and Consumers Union Release Family Drug Guide
Charlottesville, VA, August 10, 2010 - Unbound Medicine, a leader in knowledge management solutions for healthcare, in collaboration
with the American Society for Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) and Consumers Union, the nonprofit publisher of Consumer Reports
magazine and Consumer Reports Health, today announced the release of Family Drug Guide, a mobile and web drug information
resource for consumers.
Download press release (73k PDF File)Attorney General Hardy Myers Announces $4 million grant to Consumers Union
(April 24, 2008) - Attorney General Hardy Myers today announced a grant of more than $4 million to Consumers Union (CU) that will ultimately help consumers make the safest and most effective prescription drug choices. "The multi-million dollar grant will give CU, the nonprofit publisher of Consumer Reports, the assistance needed to provide consumers with free and unbiased information when sorting through the confusing prescription drug market," Myers explained. In addition to being a member of the Special Committee of Attorneys General that made the grant, the Oregon Department of Justice will act as Grant Administrator.
Download press release (56k PDF File)Consumers Union Awarded $4.4 Million Grant To Expand Prescription Drug Awareness Program
Today Attorneys General from around the country announced (www.doj.state.or.us) a $4.4 million grant to Consumers Union that will fund a public education program designed to eliminate huge gaps in public knowledge about prescription drugs. With close to $10 billion dollars spent on drug advertising each year, the airwaves are saturated with drug promotions that often provide incomplete and inadequate information about drug choices.
Download press release (42k PDF File)Opioid Painkillers Only Moderately Effective Against Chronic Pain
(April 10, 2008) - The strongest painkilling drugs - called opioids - should not be first-line treatments against chronic pain, and are only moderately effective when they are prescribed, according to the latest report from Consumer Reports Health Best Buy Drugs™, a public education project of Consumers Union. Doctors and patients should instead first try less risky and less expensive pain relievers, such as acetaminophen (the ingredient in Tylenol), non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin IB and generics), and naproxen (Aleve and generics), or non-opioid prescription pain medicines. Evidence indicates that these common painkillers used by millions of people at low doses everyday to treat mild aches and pains are often just as effective as opioids - and less risky - against chronic pain when used at somewhat higher doses, the report concludes. Long-term use of the opioids has been linked to a decrease in sex hormones leading to both a loss of interest in sex and impaired sexual function; a decline in immune function; and an increase the body's sensitivity to pain. These problems don't appear to be permanent and will go away when use of the opioid is stopped. The report - written for consumers - compares 12 opioid medicines.
Download press release (198k PDF File)Anticonvulsants Effective, But Not Always Best Initial Choice
(September 5, 2007) – Some anticonvulsant drugs are effective in treating bipolar disorder, fibromyalgia, and various kinds of pain, but the widely prescribed drugs are not always the best initial choice to treat those conditions and some are quite expensive, according to the latest report from Consumer Reports Health Best Buy Drugs™, a public information project of Consumers Union. The report compares and analyzes 12 anticonvulsants. Scientific evidence backs only a few in treating the three disorders. That is significant because many of the 12 drugs are commonly prescribed “off label” to treat mental health and pain problems. “The evidence is either weak or non-existent that some of them help people or are the best drugs to use,” says Gail Shearer, project director of Consumer Reports Health Best Buy Drugs. Doctors and patients should be more cautious and deliberative in using these drugs.
Download press release (132k PDF File)Older Low-Cost Drugs Are Best Bet and Best Buys for Type 2 Diabetes
(July 16, 2007) – Newer prescription drugs to treat type 2 diabetes – including much-promoted Avandia and Actos – are no more effective or safe than older drugs and cost significantly more, according to the latest report from Consumer Reports Health Best Buy Drugs, a public information project of Consumers Union. The report is based primarily on an in-depth analysis being released today of the scientific evidence on oral diabetes drugs by researchers at Johns Hopkins University. The analysis screened the findings of over 216 published studies and was sponsored by the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. An article based on the new analysis is being published today on the Web site of the journal Annals of Internal Medicine.
Download press release (54k PDF File)Aspirin is Best Choice for Most Consumers Needing Heart, Stroke Protection
(April 12, 2007) – For most people who need a blood-thinning drug to help prevent a first or repeat heart attack or stroke, aspirin is the drug of choice, according to the latest report from the Consumer Reports Health Best Buy Drugs™ project. Aspirin is one of four drugs in a class of medicines called antiplatelets. The other three are Aggrenox (a combination of aspirin and the drug dipyridamole), clopidogrel (Plavix), and ticlopidine (Ticlid). The medicines decrease blood clotting, which evidence now shows is intimately tied to heart attack and stroke risk. As a result, the use of aspirin and other antiplatelets has skyrocketed in recent years. “This report will help doctors and consumers clarify the choices when it comes to use of blood-thinning medicines,” said Steven Findlay, managing editor of Consumer Reports Health Best Buy Drugs. “The almost incredible advantage here is that tens of millions of people can benefit from taking a medicine – aspirin – that is among the least expensive available and does not require a prescription.”
Download press release (70k PDF File)Prescriptions for Cholesterol Drugs Rise with New Generics
(Feb. 13, 2007) - Prescriptions for the cholesterol-lowering medicines known as statins rose by an average of 500,000 a month between October 2005 and December 2006, according to a new analysis by Consumers Union and Consumer Reports Health Best Buy Drugs. The increase was enhanced by the availability of simvastatin - the generic version of Zocor - one of two new generic statins that came onto the market in the latter half of 2006. The shift suggests aggressive moves by doctors, insurers, pharmacy benefit managers, pharmacists, and consumers to use the new generics.
Download press release (54k PDF File)Download analysis (170k PDF File)PDA Agreement Puts Best Buy Drugs Information at Doctors' Fingertips
(Jan. 25, 2007) - Doctors and medical professionals can now access Consumer Reports Health Best Buy Drugs' independent reviews of prescription drugs via a popular personal digital assistant (PDA) drug reference guide, the Tarascon Pocket Pharmacopoeia®. Users of this software can quickly review Best Buy summary reports that compare drugs on effectiveness, safety, and price based on the available scientific evidence.
Download press release (42k PDF File)Prilosec OTC is Best Buy for Acid Reflux Disease
(Jan. 22, 2007) - A widely available nonprescription drug - Prilosec OTC - is as effective a treatment for heartburn and acid reflux disease as prescription drugs costing many times more, according to Consumer Reports Health Best Buy Drugs, a public education project of Consumers Union.
Download press release (52k PDF File)
