“Best Buy Drugs” and Patient Safety

Introduction

The plethora of increasingly available medicines creates a dizzying array of options in the therapeutic arsenal for physicians. Further, parsing through the relevant evidence-based literature on medications in each of their forms is a daunting task at best.

For patients, the cost differentials for these drugs makes a tremendous difference with respect to access to therapies that may treat them most effectively. Further, with the barrage of direct-to-consumer advertising and other marketing efforts, patients find it difficult to assess what drugs are appropriate to best attend to their health care needs.

To address these needs of physicians and patients, tools are now available. The Consumers Union, the producer of Consumers Reports, through a grant from the National Library of Medicine and the Engelberg Foundation, has partnered with the Drug Effectiveness Review Project at the Center for Evidence-Based Policy, Oregon Health and Science University, to develop medication education materials known as Best Buy Drugs. These materials provide significant information useful to patients and physicians and also represent an important foundation to improve and promote patient safety.

Best Buy Drugs

Best Buy Drugs is a free series of reports that evaluate drugs in commonly used therapeutic drug categories. The reports cover both brand name and generic drug forms, as well as over-the-counter forms, if relevant. Although written primarily for patients, tabular reviews provides accessible, digested information for clinicians and provides clinical considerations based on evidence-based review by the Center for Evidence-Based Policy. JAMA has featured Best Buy Drugs as useful tool for physicians. Cost comparisons and other important information are available for patient education.

Specifics on common aspects of the disease treated by the drugs, as well as safety issues, race and gender issues, and how to talk to physicians about symptoms and disease are also included. Although cost information is primarily geared toward patients, physicians may also use this information to assist patients in discussing critical issues of medication prices and how they might reduce drug costs, which is an important patient advocacy role.

Currently, the Best Buy Drugs series includes pamphlets on:

• angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors,
• antidepressants,
• antihistamines,
• attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) medications,
• ß-blockers,
• calcium channel blockers,
• hormonal treatment for menopause,
• non-steroidal anti-inflammatory agents (NSAIDs),
• proton pump inhibitors,
• statins, and
• triptans for migraine headaches.

Other drug categories are forthcoming, and the project plans to have 20 therapeutic categories out by the end of 2006. These mini-monographs are put out in both single page and pamphlet form, and are available on the Best Buy Drugs dedicated web site for download in pdf format (www.crbestbuydrugs.org). An orientation video is also available on the site, which is also available to providers on DVD by request. The site also allows physicians and patients to sign up for updates on recommendations and new therapeutic category materials.

Patient Safety and Education

The Best Buy Drugs series represents an important resource to promote patient safety. Physicians can use the materials, which are also available in Spanish, to provide patient information, and to have a common ground of understanding with respect to the drug, its effects, and its side-effects. The series can also help to educate patients regarding clinical symptoms to be aware of and alert to that indicate poor tolerance, allergic reactions, and drug-drug interactions, as well as steps to take if and when these issues arise. It can also provide an opportunity for physicians to engage in a discussion about sources of drugs, such as foreign countries and the Internet, that may represent high risks for fake, tainted, or counterfeit forms.

Conclusion

The Best Buy Drugs materials offered by Consumers Union is a highly useful resource for physician and patient education and pricing, as well as serves an important safety function. Physicians may wish to avail themselves of this free resource.