Sacramento to Lead National Effort to Educate Consumers about Prescription Drug Prices; Consumer Reports Best Buy Drugs Pilot Project Launched in California.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Sacramento regional leaders today launched an ambitious effort to get free information on the cost and effectiveness of prescription drugs into the hands of consumers -- especially seniors, low income residents and the uninsured -- to help Californians stretch their health care dollars in an era of spiraling drug prices.

The information is provided by Consumers Union, the nonprofit publisher of Consumer Reports, through its innovative Consumer Reports Best Buy Drugs program. The grant-funded project is a pioneering effort to provide consumers with information in one place on the safety, effectiveness and costs of prescription drugs. Currently, the Consumer Reports Best Buy Drugs evaluations are available only on the Web, at www.CRBestBuyDrugs.org, but pilot projects in Sacramento and Atlanta will determine how to get printed copies of the materials into the hands of those without Internet access.

"More than 150,000 residents of Sacramento County must pay for their prescription drugs out-of-pocket," said Roger Dickinson, chair of the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors, at a news conference to launch the Sacramento pilot project. "Prescription drug costs are rising at twice the rate of inflation, taking up an increasingly larger portion of peoples' income. Clearly, there is a real need for credible information that allows people make smart decisions and lower their health care costs now."

In Sacramento, old-fashioned community and town hall meetings will help spread the word and distribute the reports, which identify "Best Buys" in each drug category to help patients talk with their doctors about which medicines might be the most effective and affordable for them.

"Sacramento is an ideal place to develop a model information distribution system that can be used nationwide," said Heather Fargo, mayor of Sacramento. "Many nonprofit organizations will be meeting with groups of older adults in senior centers, churches and civic clubs to explain the program and provide copies of the Consumer Reports Best Buy Drugs evaluations. Unbiased information on price and effectiveness is important for consumers to have in an era of rising drug costs, and I believe Sacramento will make this public education program a success."

Consumers Union is teaming with California Health Advocates, a nonprofit advocate for California's Medicare beneficiaries, to develop methods to ensure seniors, the uninsured and low-income residents have access to printed copies of the reports. Sacramento was selected by Consumers Union as one of only two cities to launch the outreach program because of the region's diversity and the California Health Advocates' extensive ties to the community.

Gail Shearer, project director of Consumer Reports Best Buy Drugs, said what is learned in Sacramento will be used as a blueprint to eventually distribute printed copies of the drug evaluations throughout California and the rest of the nation.

"Only when consumers and doctors have independent information on the effectiveness, safety and price of medicines will we see real change in the prescription drug marketplace," Shearer said. "We hope to level the playing field for consumers who are confused by all the advertisements for prescription drugs, and empower them to make informed decisions with their doctor."

At www.CRBestBuyDrugs.org, consumers can find free, in-depth reports about how drugs used to treat a particular illness or condition stack up against each other, as well as safety and price information. The site also identifies Best Buy picks for each drug category. Consumers can then take the information to their doctor or pharmacist to begin a dialogue about which drug may be best for them, and which may help them save money. In some instances, by using the Best Buy drug, consumers can save as much as $2,000 a year.

Currently available on the Web site are reports on cholesterol-lowering drugs (statins), drugs to treat heartburn and acid reflux (proton pump inhibitors), arthritis medications (NSAIDs), antidepressants and high blood pressure and heart medications (beta-blockers). In the next several months, the site will offer reports on medications to treat Alzheimer's disease and medications for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Consumers Union plans to publish reports on a total of 20 different categories of drugs at the rate of about one per month between now and mid-2006.

The Consumer Reports Best Buy Drugs project, which is funded by grants from the Engelberg Foundation and the National Library of Medicine, combines evidence-based research on the comparative effectiveness and safety of prescription drugs with national-level data on drug prices. The information on drug effectiveness is derived from the Drug Effectiveness Review Project (DERP) at the Oregon Health and Science University Evidence-based Practice Center. The DERP project compiles drug effectiveness data for states to use in shaping prescription drug coverage choices for Medicaid programs.