Health Care & Prescription Drugs News

Congress Passes Prescription Drug Safety Reforms	9/20/2007
By overwhelming margins, the House and Senate passed this week significant reforms to the Food and Drug Administration’s drug safety review system. The centerpiece of the bill includes strong consumer protections. President Bush has sent mixed signals on whether or not he will sign the bill, which passed the House 405 to 7 and passed the Senate unanimously.
New Survey Shows Uninsured Americans Pay 60 Percent More for Prescription Drugs	7/11/2006
WASHINGTON—Uninsured consumers are charged 60 percent more for common prescription drugs than the drug companies charge the federal government, according to a new U.S. Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) report released today. In Washington, D.C., uninsured consumers are charged nearly 65 percent more.
Deceptive Prescription Drug Marketing Tactics ‘Common and Dangerous’	5/3/2006
WASHINGTON, D.C.– Prescription drug marketers made deceptive claims to doctors and consumers about 150 different drugs including Vioxx and OxyContin, according to a new report released today by U.S. Public Interest Research Group and the NJPIRG Law and Policy Center. “Powerful prescription drugs can improve or save lives, but if they’re marketed to the wrong people, they can cripple or even kill,” said NJPIRG Law and Policy Center Consumer Advocate Abigail Caplovitz, the report’s author.

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