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AARP campaign attacks rising drug costs

Ad effort focuses on increasing patient awareness about generics and compliance with prescription drugs.

By Stephanie Stapleton, amednews staff. May 6, 2002.

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Washington -- Physicians are familiar with the scenario.

During a regular checkup, a patient brings in lists of formulary medications or asks about generic alternatives to his or her medications. The patient's goal is to find a way to reduce out-of-pocket drug costs.

But according to AARP, that scenario doesn't occur nearly enough. The organization's example is 70-year-old Rita Cohen. If she would have asked her doctor about the generic equivalent of her cholesterol medication, the group says, she could have saved 45% a month in out-of-pocket costs. And so could millions of others.

As a result, AARP last month launched a $10 million national advertising campaign to increase patients' understanding about generics as alternatives to brand-name drugs, improve compliance with prescribed regimens, and reduce harmful interactions and overmedication.

The campaign is part of the organization's three-pronged attack against "the high cost of prescription drugs," said Bill Novelli, executive director and CEO. AARP is also engaged in a legislative effort to add a prescription drug benefit to Medicare and is participating in state litigation to hold down drug costs, he added. Ultimately, Novelli said, the goal is to help save money and improve health status.

"It's perfectly appropriate for AARP to make its own recommendations as long as the information is thorough and correct," said Jeffrey Trewhitt, a spokesman for the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America. "Generics play an important role, and this reminder is good." But in the end, it is doctors who make the final decision about what is best, he added. [...]