There are some people out there who just don’t get how much crazy money you can save with buying generic drugs. For those folks, this infographic was crafted by Mint.com. To illustrate the cost-savings possible, they took a look at Advil. For the same 200 mg of isobutylpropanoicphenolic acid, people are willing to pay over $8 more per box. Those pretty graphics aren’t going to chase away your headache any faster, honey. Let’s take a look: [More]
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Price Chopper Supermarket Offers Free Diabetes Drugs
By 5.20.10
Price Chopper locations with pharmacies will now offer free prescription diabetes medications such as metformin, glipizide and glyburide, as well as free lancets and lancing devices when you fill those prescriptions. They are giving away the free drugs as part of a “comprehensive integrated diabetes management program.” [More]
Teva Pharmaceuticals: The Ubiquitous Company You've Never Heard Of
By 5.12.10
Generic prescription drugs are just that: generic. Most patients don’t think much about who actually manufactures them. It’s pretty likely, however, that you have something in your medicine cabinet manufactured by Israel’s Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. A profile of the company in this past weekend’s New York Times is fascinating. Most interesting of all: while the company is sensibly frugal enough to make Captain Moneycat purr, they refuse to move manufacturing to China or India, as many of their competitors have. [More]
Johnson & Johnson Not Taking Refunds On Recalled Tylenol Very Seriously
By 5.3.10
When J&J’s McNeil Consumer Healthcare Unit announced a recall of children’s Tylenol, Motrin, Zyrtec and Benadryl over the weekend, it also provided a toll free number you could call for more info. Ron Lieber at the New York Times called it on Saturday to find out how the refund process would work. What he got was a three minute recording telling him to throw the products in the trash, but nothing else. [More]
Drug Company Gets Approval To Sell Crestor To Healthy People
By 3.31.10
Don’t have high cholesterol? Think you don’t need Crestor, a cholesterol-lowering statin? You may be in for a rude awakening. Astra Zeneca, the maker of Crestor, has received approval to market the drug to healthy people as a preventative measure. And before you ask, yes Crestor does have side-effects. [More]
Sorry, No Jet Lag Drug For You
By 3.30.10
The FDA has declined to approve an application for use of an alertness drug, Nuvigil, to treat jet lag. [More]
Heath Reform Fears: Consumer Reports Interviews Obama Administration
By 3.16.10
Health reform is scary, which is why one of my grandma’s keeps forwarding me emails about how Obama is going to steal her walker. Will it save me money? What if I hate my employer’s insurance? What changes would I notice right away? Consumer Reports took your questions to the Administration to cut through the hype and get the facts. Nancy Metcalf interviews Secretary of Health & Human Services, Kathleen Sebelius. [More]
Ask The Administration Your Health Reform Questions
By 3.12.10
Consumer Reports is going to the White House to ask them what’s up with health reform, and they need your questions press to them. The Health Blog is going to interview Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of Health and Human Services, the crackerjack former state insurance commissioner of Kansas. What does health reform mean? How much will it cost? Are we going to get savings or will private doctors get run out of business? Leave your questions in the comments here or over on the Consumer Reports Health Blog or email it to tips@consumerist.com, subject “health reform.”
Ask a top administration official your questions about health reform [Consumer Reports Health Blog]
Economist Dan Ariely Sad He Can't Use Airborne For Placebo Effect Anymore
By 3.1.10
Everybody needs a good placebo to get them through the day. For Behavioral economist and Predictably Irrational author Dan Ariely, it used to be Airborne. Even though he was mainly sure it didn’t work, that faint glimmer was enough to keep him taking it and cold-free. Then he read new studies that said it was totally placebo. His placebo stopped working thereafter. Luckily, his mom has sent him a new placebo! And he feels right as rain. What’s your favorite placebo? [via BoingBoing] [More]
Are Muscle Relaxers The Best Choice For Muscle Pain?
By 2.19.10
Have you ever used a muscle relaxer to treat muscle pain? In this video from our sister publication, Consumer Reports Health shows how that might not be the best first choice. [More]
Girl "Grows Back Face" After Pain Relief Pill Made It Turn Black And Fall Off
By 1.13.10
19-year old Eva Uhlin has regrown her face, chest, arms, back and stomach. A rare reaction to a couple pills of pain reliever acetaminophen, the main ingredient in Tylenol, caused her to develop Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis, and large parts of her skin turned black and fell off. [More]
Brooke Shields Has Hypotrichosis
By 10.27.09
Oh no! Brooke Shields used to have stringy, stick-figure eyelashes! I figured this out after watching Consumer Reports’ video dissection of a new commercial for Latisse, the glaucoma medication that has been rebranded as an expensive, temporary eyelash enhancer with side effects.
Al Franken: How Many Medical Bankruptcies Are There In Switzerland?
By 10.26.09
We stray into politics often at our peril but I had to share this clip of Sen. Franken kneecapping a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute conservative think tank. In what was supposed to be a hearing on the Medical Bankruptcy Fairness Act, Diana Furchtgott-Roth instead used her testimony to pillory against health care reform proposals not even being discussed. After Sen. Whitehouse asks her if she even read the bill at hand, Sen. Franken goes: “You said the way we’re going will increase bankruptcies…How many bankruptcies because of medical crises were there last year in Switzerland?”
Got Side Effects From Drugs? Report Them To the FDA
By 9.8.09
Over the past few years, the numbers of recalled pharmaceuticals has grown as new drugs are rushed to market before their safety is proven. Want to help improve drug safety? If you experience any serious side-effects from pharmaceutical or suspect drug interactions be sure to report these instances to the FDA. Here’s how:
Pfizer Must Pay Record $2.3 Billion Fine For Sneaky Drug Marketing
By 9.3.09
Haters of Big Pharma, rejoice! Pfizer has been smacked with a $2.3 billion (yes, with a B) civil penalty which includes a $1.2 billion criminal fine after they did some very, very bad things while promoting painkiller Bextra and other drugs. That’s the largest criminal fine in American history. Let’s hope they’re proud!
Lexapro's Marketing Plan Shows How Drug Maker Pushes New Drugs
By 9.3.09
The Senate just released 88 pages of a confidential 270+ page marketing plan by Forest Laboratories, created in 2004 and focused on how to get doctors to prescribe the antidepressant Lexapro over similar but cheaper alternatives such as Celexa. The New York Times notes that the line between marketing and education seems to be heavily blurred, which may not surprise you. There are, however, two interesting notes for consumers who may be taking Lexapro.
Cut Down On Medical Costs With These Tips
By 7.16.09
One way to cut down on all your medical costs is to go exclusively to Dr. Mario, an impersonator of whom is pictured.
$500,000 In Consumer Refunds From Rite Aid After False Cold Remedy Advertising Suit
By 7.14.09
Remember the class-action lawsuit against the makers of cold-and-flu-preventing magic potion Airborne? Airborne claimed that it could prevent or shorten colds and flus, without any actual scientific evidence to back those claims up.
