Study Researches Ways of Getting Drug Information to Consumers

Consumers are more likely to receive information about medications from magazine advertisements that include a "drug facts box," rather than the brief summaries currently used, according to a study published on Tuesday in the Annals of Internal Medicine, USA Today reports. For the study, Steven Woloshin and colleagues at Dartmouth University, tested the effectiveness of drug facts boxes for a statin and the blood thinner Plavix, both medications for heart disease, as well as a proton pump inhibitor and an H2 blocker, both treatments for heartburn.

The drug facts boxes included information about the side effects of the medications, as well as the rate that the side effects occurred in clinical trials. In addition, the drug facts boxes quantified the benefits of the medications over a placebo and older treatments. The drug facts boxes also included the year that the medications received FDA approval and alternative treatments that do not involve medication.

According to the study, about 72% of individuals who viewed drug facts boxes for the heart disease medications correctly said that the statin provides a larger benefit, compared with 9% of people who viewed the brief summaries currently used. About 70% of individuals who viewed drug facts boxes for the heartburn medications correctly said that the protein pump inhibitor provides a larger benefit, compared with 8% who viewed the brief summaries currently used, the study found.

Woloshin said that researchers have begun to design a pilot project in which FDA scientists have drafted drug facts boxes as they review new medications (Rubin, USA Today, 2/17).

The study is available online.